Rit's Arout Rime
by telmeastory
Summary: The girls are back for a reunion at Grimwood's when an unexpected guest turns up. What is going to happen? How will Sibella handle this stranger?
1. Chapter 1

She was staring down the batter, trying to decide which pitch she was going to throw out. Standing straight up and placing her slender right hand which was holding the ball into her glove, she moved her purple bangs out of her eyes.

"Come on Sibella!" the shout came from first base. Sibella glared over at the orange haired woman staring back at her.

"Winnie, don't rush me. I need to select the most fangtastic pitch for our young friend." As she looked back to the little witch girl standing at the plate with her bat up and ready, she saw the frightened look she gave her. The girls were all back for a reunion, having reached their own graduation about 2 years back. During their visit, they were participating in an alumni softball game.

Shifting suddenly to smile at the witch, Sibella let off a quick pitch which flew by the poor young witch as she swung hard, but not fast enough.

"Ok, that's enough teasing for the day Sibella. Let's see you get one by me." A large woman with tall black hair which displayed a white stripe down the side stepped up to the plate, hefting two bats before deciding which one she wanted to use. She tossed one back to the bench and stepped into the batter's box, offering a few experimental swings.

Elsa had taken over as the Science Instructor upon her graduation. This meant she was very protective of the girls. She smiled at the purple haired vampire woman standing on the mount who was now pouting at her. Else then pointed her right finger to the fence, drawing a mixture of laughter and gasps from the girls and women there for the game.

Sibella set her jaw, returning her concentration to the young mummy behind the plate. "You can do it, Sibella!" Tanis called her encouragement from her position as catcher.

Sibella drew her arms back for her wind up and whipped it forward, letting the ball fly. It whipped forward and resulted in a satisfying thud as it hit Tanis' glove.

"Strike one, hehehehehe." The blue ghost floating over near second base cackled.

Sibella waited for Tanis to throw the ball back, catching it lightly in her glove. She took a deep breath before turning back to face Elsa. She went into her wind up and once again was rewarded with the satisfying thud.

Else was standing stock still, just smiling. As Sibella caught the ball once more, Elsa allowed her grin to grow a bit more and pointed once more. This time the move was met with more laughted.

Sibella wound up once more before letting the ball fly. For some reason she found her eyes closing, waiting to hear that final thud.

Instead, there was a loud crack. The ball was flying high, lost in the sun. Sibella knew, however, that it would be out of the park. She took off, heading for the fence. Maybe she wouldn't have to change into her bat form. Like a flash she was at the fence, ready to jump over. She threw her arm up, ever the competitive one, just in time to have the ball slip over her glove as she collapsed over the fence in a heap. She could hear the cheering from the field already, the teasing that would come.

Instead, there was suddenly a meaty thud. "Like, great hit Elsa."

"You alright Sibella?"

Suddenly Sibella found herself looking up into some very familiar eyes as a shadow fell over her. She felt a strong arm reach down to help her off the ground. She looked up and absorbed his face, her breath catching in her chest.

"H-Hey Coach!" Sibella threw her arms around his neck, giving him a huge hug. Smiling warmly, Shaggy hugged her back for a moment. He stepped back, releasing her from the hug and turned toward the field. Sibella felt like the hug had ended too soon, but she didn't want anyone else to know she felt like that. As the Vampire Princess, she did have a certain level of 'coldness' to maintain. Besides, this was her coach. She couldn't feel that way about a human, and about him.

She turned to join him in getting back to the field. As she ran over, she watched his lithe form jump the fence at a short run. She, being only about 6' herself had to vault over. Of course that was far less painful than her initial trip over.

As the two returned to the field, all of the current students got caught up in the excitement of meeting the famous 'Coach' that all of the alumni had talked about. As they saw the tall human walking toward them, the reactions were mixed. Some were scared to have a human in their midst, shocked the think he could be this famous Coach. Others, more accustomed to being around humans could not deny that the lanky man was handsome.

All confusion was removed as the alumni ran up to hug the man, shouting to him, "Coach!"

Shaggy and the girls gathered around home plate, questions flying fast as everyone tried to catch up.

"Hey Coach, how have you been?"

"When did you get in?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Miss Grimwood yet?"

"Where is Scooby?"

At the last question, Sibella saw the man's face fall, but only for a second. She would have to ask about that later.

"Well it is good to see you too ladies. One t a time but I will try to answer all of your questions. I actually just got in, so no I haven't seen Miss Grimwood yet. As for why, I heard my favorite women were having a reunion and I knew I couldn't miss it. It is a good thing actually, it has been a long couple of months. Like, as for Scoob, he won't be joining." Damn, he had almost made it through without his trademark 'like'. These days it really only came out when he was nervous. The last bit was said with a forced smile. Luckily it looked like no one noticed. Shaggy wasn't really up for talking about his lifelong best friend.

"Well we're glad you're back, Coach." Elsa said, stepping back from the group hug.

"Yeah, you made it just in time!" Phanty added with a laugh.

"Come on everyone, let's get back to the hooowwwwwwuuuuuusse!" Winnie howled the last word as she took off for the mansion. The rest of the girls followed her out.

Sibella slowed down and looked back at Shaggy who seemed a bit lost, staring at the ladies. "Coming?"

Shaggy offered her a soft smile before jogging up to join her. "Gladly."

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Shaggy settled down into bed. It had been a long day. After his past few months, the day was nice, but tiring. He had arrived back at the Grimwood place just to be swamped by hugs and requests for stories. After a few hours, and several trips down memory lane with the girls later, Miss Grimwood had stepped in and asked the young ones to head for bed. This request was met by cries of not fair, but after Miss Grimwood reminded them that Mr. Rogers would still be there tomorrow, the girls relented.

He had then sat for another hour while the young alumni caught him up on their lives. Shaggy thought back on all he had learned.

Elsa was still at the school teaching science. She and her dad had grown close over the time and Elsa had even found a young man for herself down at the Callway place. They had been dating for 6 months. She was as tall as her father, reaching seven feet tall. She had grown into her feminine form, looking like a body builder with her broad shoulders. Her curves had developed quite nicely.

Phanty giggled her way through her story. She had taken up helping some ghost hunter groups while stopping by some old houses to haunt them just for fun. She had been 'shacking up' with one of those cute ghost hunters, in her own words. Phanty was not much taller than she had been before, but being as she floated most places, height did not seem to matter. She was still blue with white hair. Her figure had stayed slim but she had hips now and an ass that wouldn't quit.

Winnie and Tanis were a couple. Winine, having learned to hide her wolfside for most of the month, had become a physical education professor at a local boarding school. Winnie had developed too, growing into her wolf form. She had grown to about 5'8", but had maintained her trim waist. More than that, her chest had grown quite…large.

Tanis, to her credit, had graduated from Grimwood's before the others, even though she was younger, and had managed to graduate with her bachelor's degree about the same time as the other ladies had been graduating from Grimwood's. She had done a Master's degree in one additional year and was now teaching at the community college near Winnie…or rather, she was teaching online courses for them since being in front of a class probably would not be the best. Tanis had grown into quite a woman in her own right, standing about 5'10", only slightly taller than Winine. She was fit, but wrapped herself in her bandages to hide her shyness about her figure. The same could not be said for Winnie. Shaggy had to admit they made a cute couple.

That only left Sibella. The Vampire Princess had been travelling the world. She would naturally be an heiress to Dracula's fortune and kingdom. Of course she didn't really care about that. In typically Sibella fashion, the young vampire had been visiting different vampires around the world, seeing how they treated humans, how they interacted with one another, and just understanding the monster world. The travel had done nothing to slow her down in becoming a gorgeous woman. She still had her purple hair but had remained trim and fit from her travels. She had soft shoulders which flowed down into her perfectly formed breasts before finding their way down across the very flat stomach which peeked out from her tank top she had not changed out of since playing softball. Her hips flared out gently to stretch into long legs, suited just right for her 6' frame.

Of course most of this info came not from Sibella herself but from Winnie. As Shaggy learned later, apparently Winnie and Sibella had been in a relationship, and even after a rough breakup the two had stayed close. This caught Shaggy off guard, though he really didn't know why. Why did he care who she had dated? In his confusion, Shaggy missed the blush in Sibella's face during this revelation and the glare she gave to Winnie.

As Shaggy settled down into his bed, his thoughts shifted away from the women he was here to visit and came back to the true reason he was here. It was a painful to consider that and it was not something he wanted to think about. He rolled around in the bed for hours before noticing he could not get away from these thoughts.

He sat up, hugging himself. He felt a tear fall down his cheek. He really missed Scoob.

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Sibella was slipping through the hall to the bathroom when she heard it. She wasn't sure it was what she thought at first, but as she drew herself closer, she knew she recognized the sound. You couldn't mistake that sound. It was coming from the window. She carefully stole her way out of the window where she saw a figure near the edge. The figure was clutching themselves, rocking. Then she heard the sound again.

Crying.

As Sibella drew closer, she saw the red shirt. Then, as the moon came out from behind the clouds, she saw who was crying.

Slipping quietly down to sit beside him, Sibella suddenly froze about a step away from him. What was she doing? This was Shaggy. For all she knew, he did not want anyone here. She had seen that look when talking about Scooby. This was not a good time. She turned to head back inside.

"Hey Sibella."

She looked back shocked. He hadn't even turned around, yet he knew who was there.

As she was studying him, he turned to look into her eyes. "Care to sit?" There was no hint he had been crying. Even his eyes weren't red.

"Sure." She said, trying to keep her composure. As she sat, she studied him more closely. This was not the same guy who had been their coach at 18. That was 7 years ago. He had been tall and lanky back then. Sitting next to him, she now realized how much had changed. She had noticed how tall he was earlier. Easily 6'5" maybe even 6'6". But now that she sat beside him she began to realize other things. His face was squarer. He was still skinny, but she could see hints of muscle peeking from his arms, draped around his knees.

"So how did you know it was me?" She asked, almost hesitantly.

With a gruff laugh, "You smell like iron and strawberries." It was a plain simple statement, but it still caught her off guard.

Putting on her cold Vampire Princess front, she shot back. "How would you know what I smell like?"

He tensed for a moment, then she felt him relax. "Ask your dad sometime. So what are you doing out here?"

She wasn't ready for that. She didn't want to bring up the crying, but she wasn't sure what else to say. Well…

"Wait, ask my dad? Why should I do that?" Ok, that wasn't what she had meant to say.

Here he let out a real laugh. "Nothing for you to worry about Sibella. Just an old beef between us." With that, he looked back at the young vampire, redirecting her back to his question.

"Umm…well…" Damn, why did he mke it harder by looking at her like that, she thought.

"You heard then." It wasn't a question.

"I'm sorry Coach. I didn't mean to intrude." She apologized.

He looked at her with his Green eyes. She realized that those eyes which were so familiar earlier suddenly didn't seem as familiar. There was a pain there, yet strength.

"Don't worry about it. You always were a bit more perceptive than anyone else. Besides, it is nice not to have to hide it." His shoulders slumped as he said this. The Vampire Princess carefully reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. She almost drew away as he tensed again, but the tension was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

After a few minutes, she let her hand slide down his shoulder and turned to face the lawn. Not sure of what else to say. "So you enjoying the view?"

"Like, what?" his breath caught in his throat. He was worried she had seen him staring at her. She was distracting him from his thoughts and was certainly a welcome distraction.

"I mean that you and your friends never really seemed to enjoy the landscape here at Grimwood's quite as much as we girls."

He laughed, appreciating her trying to forget his crying. "Sibella, I was just remembering all the good times we shared with these girls."

"And that made you cry?" she looked at him skeptically.

"Like, what? No Sibella. They were very good memories. They just reminded me of…other things. That's all." He turned to face her, pulling her around to face him. "But trust me, Sibella. Nothing that you or any of the girls here have done could ever make me cry. You Are…You all are amazing."

She found herself getting lost in his eyes. After staring for what felt like forever, she felt her body involuntarily shiver.

Suddenly realizing how cold it was, Shaggy pulled her into a hug against him. He was incredibly warm. She felt herself wanting that hug to last forever.

"Sibella, I was out her crying because it has been a long time for me. I have been fighting what felt like a losing battle for a long time. And in that process, I have lost all my friends…even Scoob." The end was so quiet, she wasn't sure she heard it.

She felt her arms wrap around him. "I'm sorry Shaggy." He felt himself shiver at that. It was the first time she hadn't called him 'coach' since he had seen her back at the field. It felt good.

They sat there for a while, just being quiet. Neither one said anything.

Then they went back to their rooms as if it had never happened.

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As another day began at the Grimwood School, girls were up early running around. Shaggy, after his late night, woke up and made his way down to breakfast. On entering the room, he saw Miss Grimwood looking crazed. As she saw Shaggy, she jumped to him.

"Thank goodness Mr. Rogers. These girls are all a bit too excited. I was wondering if, for old times' sake, you might be willing to provide them with a good old physical education lesson."

Seeing the room, which appeared on the verge of collapse itself, Shaggy knew he couldn't turn her down. "Sure Miss Grimwood. No problem."

Turning his attention to the girls running rampant around the room, he raised his voice. "Listen up!" Instantly everyone came to s top to stare at the man who suddenly had a commanding appearance. "Ladies, outside on the double now!"

Leaving no room for argument, Shaggy disappeared out of the room himself and was quickly followed by all of the current students. Sibella stared in awe at the command he had of the room. Winnie snuck up behind her.

"Hello Miss Berries and Iron."

The statement caught Sibella's attention. "What did you say?"

"Exactly what I have always said. You smell like Strawberries and Iron. That is what you smelled like when we dated. Sorry for bringing that up last night by the way."

Seeing the look on Sibella'a face, somewhere between confusion and realization, Winnie moved forward.

"What's wrong Sibella?"

"I saw Shaggy…Coach, outside last night. I tried to sneak up on him but he knew I was there. He said I smelled like that. Said it had something to do with my dad."

"Well duh!" Winnie jumped to her feet.

"What do you mean, Winnie?"

"Sibella, you do know, right? About Coach?"

Sibella looked at her completely lost.

"Well apparently daddy's little girl doesn't get all the news travelling the world." Winnie mumbled under her breath. "Look SIbella, if he hasn't said anything, I am not sure its my place."

SIbella grabbed her arm as Winnie began to move away. "Please tell me Winnie?" Seeing the look in Sibella's face, Winnie began to grin. "Ok, but first you have to answer my question."

Sibella stopped in her tracks. This seemed like a dangerous idea. But she suddenly felt as if she needed to know and there was no way she was going to go ask her dad.

"Ok, what is it?"

"How long have you liked Coach?"

"What?" That was not at all what she had been expecting.

"SIbella, the reason we broke up was because you were too cold. You were too busy distancing yourself from anyone and everyone. Sue we're friends, but you are still a very distant person to me. But here we are and you are out comforting Shaggy in the middle of the night?"

As Sibella turned to respond and defend Shaggy, Winnie raised her had to cut her off. "Don't. Super werewolf hearing, remember?"

Sibella collapsed down into her seat. She did like Shaggy, and as more than her Coach. She knew that. How long was a different question. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Sibella dove in to answer Winnie. "I'm not sure how long, but I know I don't want to be so cold toward him. But I also know I need to be. He is older than us-"

"By 6 years. Not so big a deal now days." Winnie cut her off.

"Plus he is human." Sibella continued.

Winnie let out a roaring laugh. "Ok, I guess I should answer your question next. See, I know something about Coach that most people don't know. He hides it very…VERY well. See, after Coach left here, he got involved in racing. He, Scooby, Scrappy, and Coach's girlfriend went off racing every weekend. Coach was good…really good."

Sibella took it all in. Shaggy was a racer and had a girlfriend. Ok, that didn't matter. It made her decision easier.

Winnie went on. "Well, you know that race your dad holds for the monsters every year? Yeah…so Pops decided he wasn't going to run it about three years after Coach left. Well Old Bats couldn't have that. He cast a spell to find a replacement wolf man. You know how that works, wolf man is essentially the strongest of the werewolves. Starts their own line. In some years serve your family. You know the deal. Well Dracula wanted someone to race the wolf man car. Do I need to continue or do you know who the spell grabbed?"

Sibella was staring wide-eyed at the werewolf. "You mean he is…but that means…then that's how he smelled me?"

"Without a doubt. See, Dracula told Coach that if he won the race, he would turn him back. Naturally your dad being…well, himself, didn't keep his end of the bargain. He threw everything he could at Coach to try and get him to lose. But Coach didn't. He overcame everything and won that race. It was amazing. But your dad didn't keep up his end. He sent Coach home without taking the Wolf Man power away.

"Apparently it was a rough few years for Coach. He had a hard time getting a grip on his powers. I don't know what really happened over the next few years, but based on that crying last night, it was bad."

"Wow" SIbella wasn't sure what else to say.

"Look, Sibella, I know you don't think anything will work. I really don't want to see Coach hurt, but he seems like he could at least use a shoulder to lean on right now. It is your life and all, so I don't care what you do, just promise me you won't hurt Coach."

Sibella blindly nodded, taking in all Winnie had said. Winnie gave her ex an exasperated sigh before sauntering off to find Tanis.

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Shaggy found the run to do him a lot of good. He just had so much pent up energy lately. That, plus his emotions were driving him mad and meant very little sleep. The run had burnt off a great deal of that energy, but he'd had to slow himself down quite a bit so the girls could keep up. Ah well, maybe he would take another run later. Of course thinking about not sleeping, last night hadn't been so bad. He hadn't slept, but it was more peaceful than normal. Maybe he could get Sibella to chat with him some more. He would need to chat with her about it.

He strolled up the stairs heading for his room in order to grab a shower as Tanis came down the stairs.

"Hey Coach, how was the run?"

"Refreshing. Those girls got nothing on you ladies though. Maybe one day if they work hard." He said the last part loud enough for the rest of the hall to hear and was rewarded with some squeaks from the girls peeking around the corner.

He continued in a quieter tone. "Say Tanis, have you seen SIbella recently?"

Tanis felt her lips curl into a smile. "Now why on earth would you want to see Sibella, Coach?" She knew what had happened last night. Winnie had shared all of it as the two had finished a late night love making session.

"Just wanted to ask her something." He could feel the blush rising in his cheeks as Tanis almost seemed to be staring through him.

"Coach, my girlfriend is a werewolf. She has incredible sense of smell and hearing. Therefore, I know all about your late night rendezvous. So tell me this, do you like out Sibella?"

Trying to hide his embarrassment. "Like, what do you mean? I like her just like I do the rest of you."

Tanis let out a small giggle. "I highly doubt you like her the same way. Come on Coach, you can tell me."

Shaggy felt his shoulders drop in a defeated way. "Ok Tanis, perhaps I do care more for Sibella. She has always been such a woman. That smile, the way she picks up on things, even the purple hair. But I am quite a bit older and I am a broken old man after all I have been through."

Seeing the dejected nature in his eyes, Tanis jumped in. "Look here Coach, the age thing is a bit outdated. You are only 6 years older. As for the broken piece, I don't know. Everyone has their own struggles, but I know the girls will agree with me that you deserve to be happy. Besides, it might be good for Sibella. She has been so distant, trying to be the big bad Vampire Princess."

With that she strode off leaving the now shocked Shaggy standing halfway up the stairs. As she reache the bottom, Tanis glanced back and giggled. "Last time I saw Sibella, she was talking to Winnie at the breakfast table." And she was gone.

Shaggy felt his stomach clench a bit. Winnie knew more about him than anyone else and he really wanted to tell Sibella on his own. Of course if they had already been talking…well, forget it. For now he would shower.

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This time, Sibella wasn't surprised.

"Hey Sibella."

She smiled as she walked up to him. "Mind if I sit down?"

He glanced up and saw her smile. "Not at all."

As she sat, the two stared quietly for a while. They were drinking in the sight of the moon as it rose steadily into the sky. After half an hour, he broke the silence.

"So, Like, how much do you know?"

"Well, I have begun debating going to visit my father."

"And why would that be?"

"Because he doesn't have the right to do that." She stopped and turned to look at hi sheepishly. "Especially not to you, Shaggy." She almost whispered his name. He loved how it sounded. She continued. "Maybe I could get him to reverse it…if you want?"

He felt himself perk up at this. The thought had never occurred to him. Then he thought about it…if he wanted? What did he want? He looked over at her. She seemed so fragile, so quiet.

"Sibella, do you know what I have been through? Because of this curse, I had to give up racing. As I was learning to control the powers, Googie left me and she was the first serious girlfriend I had ever had. Controlling those powers was so hard. I never thought I would get the hang of it. But Scoob was there the whole time. He kept telling me I could do it. He even stopped me a few times when I almost attacked people in my wolf form. Scooby and I went back to the gang while Scrappy went off on his own adventures." He paused for a moment. He had no idea why he was sharing all of this. He had never told anyone else about all the pain he had travelled through. Yet here he was telling her. He wanted to make her feel better about her offer, but she looked like she was getting smaller.

"Well, the gang and I took on some more adventures. It was just like old times. Well, till we split again. Velma got fed up with my foolishness, Fred and Daphne wanted to do their own thing. We had split originally so everyone could go to college…well, everyone but me. Of course Scoob and I found our way, but it felt like everything was right when the gang got back together. We had several more adventures, we even found old Scrappy, but that one didn't end well. The poor pup went off the deep end and ended up in a criminal animal asylum. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. We were off and out again, all needing space. I hated it. I felt so alone. But at least scoob was there."

He let out a breath here and looked at her. She didn't know what to say. She looked up into his eyes, now glistening with tears and pain. She held her breath as he went on.

"There were other issues. I began to control my power, becoming stronger and more confidant. I figured all would be well. Scooby and I even went on a few adventures of our own, saving some folks. It was one heck of a wild ride. I finally felt confident enough to be around other people. We went from living in the van to living in an apartment. It was great! The old gang even came to visit. Daphne and Freddy and their little girl, Velma with her fiancée, it was awesome. We were all just so happy to see each other again.

"But even the best times don't always last."

As he stopped to stare out over the grounds, Sibella hesitated. She wasn't sure what she should do. She desperately wanted to comfort him, but the sag in his shoulders told her he wasn't done. She laid a hand on his shoulder and waited. After a few minutes where she could feel him fighting back the tears, he went on.

"Well, something you are never really prepared for. I woke up late one night about two days after everyone had arrived. I felt as if something was wrong, but I had no idea what. Then I felt a presence I had not felt in years. It was your father. He was in my head again, teasing me. He was taunting me. He kept showing me everything I had lost. And then I gave into the anger. I let myself go. I finally gave in to the wolf. And it was bad. I began thrashing around. As your dad put one more vision into my head, I broke. I began to tear the apartment apart. I was scary. Being a wolf man made me one hell of a danger. Of course the only person there who really knew was Scoob. Everyone else thought it was another mystery or something, but it was bad. Scoob managed to get everyone out, but not soon enough. Apparently I turned on them. My wolf side wanted to destroy them. As I charged, Scoob proved he was a greater friend then anyone had ever known. He charged at me."

Here Shaggy broke into full tears and collapsed against Sibella's shoulder. "My stupid best friend saved everyone there. That coward stopped me from doing something stupid to them." He sobbed for a few more minutes.

"That action sent me back into myself. I knew immediately what I had done. I dropped to my knees and felt myself transforming back. Everyone was shocked. They stared at me blankly, not fully comprehending what had just happened. Scoob lay there bleeding and I was a mess. I grabbed him in my arms crying. Next thing I knew, Fred was dragging me to the emergency clinic with Daphne and Velma hot on our heels. The vet took Scoob and said it would be a while. At this point, Freddy looked at me expectantly. So did Velma and Daphne. I could see the terror in their eyes. I didn't know what else to do. Fred stood away from me and said, 'perhaps you should…go.' I looked at Fred. 'take care of him' I said, and I ran. I ran all night long. I ran for days in so many different directions. Finally, I collapsed. I was just outside a local school, which didn't seem like the best idea, but I didn't know what else to do. I woke up on a bench with none other than Miss Grimwood sitting beside me. She said nothing about where I was or what had happened. There was no pressure. She just looked at me and handed me a card and walked away calling over her shoulder, 'I know several of the ladies would like to see you…a few could really benefit from seeing you.' She ended with a wink."

As Shaggy reached the end of his tale, Sibella didn't know what to say. She gave him a hug and went to stand, fury present in her eyes. But as she tried to stand, a hand pulled her back.

"Please don't leave, SIbella. I can't lose anyone else I L…." He stopped himself short of saying it. "I can't lose anyone else."

"Coach…Shaggy." She softly took his hand in hers. "You aren't losing me. I need to…speak with my father. You shouldn't have to be living with this." She moved again to head away. This time Shaggy stood and wrapped her in his arms.

"Sibella." She couldn't meet his eyes. "Sibella." He called again. This time she slowly drew her eyes to him. "Look, I know I'm a monster. I have done terrible things. If you want me to leave, say so and I will go."

With that he slowly let her out of a hug. As she stared at him, she realized what he was saying. He thought she was leaving because she couldn't stand what he had done. Being a monster herself, she knew his pain all to well. Now it was her turn.

"Shaggy…Shaggy, look at me." He drew his eyes to hers. "Shaggy, you are an amazing person. My father was a fool to mess with you. I promise, you are not a monster. You made the girls and I feel better about ourselves than we ever knew possible. You treated us like we were normal. And I understand being treated and seen like a monster. I know better than most, especially after travelling the world. But, if you let me go for a moment, I will go see my father and this will no longer be a problem. I want to do that for you Shaggy, because I…care about you."

She stopped there, not trusting herself to say more. Suddenly she was returning her hug, not letting her go. She was a bit confused, but she hugged him back.

"Sibella, I have never told that to anyone. No one has ever cared enough, not in the past few years. The only person who ever made me feel that safe was Scoob. You are an amazing person, just so you know."

He looked down, realizing how close they were. As she stared back into his green eyes, she felt her cheeks blushing. He continued.

"At least when you let them in."

He stepped back and instantly wished he hadn't. He enjoyed the way holding her made him feel better. But he couldn't bring himself to put that pressure on her.

"As for going to see your father, don't worry about it on my account. I won't give him the satisfaction. Besides, I don't really want to be just human again. That really gets in the way of…" He cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say. Sibella didn't miss this one however.

"Gets in the way of what, Shaggy?" She asked, moving closer to him.

Feeling a bit braver…yet not, Shaggy decided he had already bared his soul to her. "Like…ummm, well, like, you see…Sibella…"

She smiled at him, suddenly feeling more confidant. "Yes, Shaggy dear?"

"Like, well, ummm…"

She suddenly stepped back. "Perhaps I should get back to bed Coach?" She offered him a nervous glance. She wanted nothing more than to be pressed up against him, but she didn't want to force him into anything.

"Oh for fuck sake, kiss each other already!" The shout from a window above them was followed by a slapping sound and a giggle. "Ouch Tanis, that hurt. If you could smell the tension…"

Looking back down, Sibella suddenly felt embarrassed. She wrapped her arms around herself. Shaggy suddenly found his confidence and pulled her close to him.

"Sibella, I have lost so many people in my life. I have become a monster and don't deserve to have someone as incredible as you care about me. You should walk away and run for yourself because I am dangerous." He offered a toothy grin barring his fangs with the end of his sentence.

"Shaggy, I am a Vampire Princess. I am the thing that goes bump in the night. But even when you were just a human you did not run from me. Therefore I won't be running from you." 'at least not in fear' she thought to herself.

At this point, Shaggy felt his resolve break. He bent down to kiss the woman in his arms. As their lips met, there was an electricity between them like one could never imagine. The tension between them disappeared as they gave in to that kiss. Holding her close, Shaggy felt a peace like her hadn't felt in years. He felt his body calm down in regards to his wolf side (though it did heat up in another sense as he realized that he was holding a sexy vampire goddess in his arms).

"Rit's Arout Rime!" Came a shout from Shaggy's window. Both of the young lovers turned to face the voice.

"SCOOB!"


	2. Chapter 2: Friends?

Shaggy stood in shock, unable to move as he stared at the bandaged great Dane bounding out of the window. Sibella carefully disentangled herself from his lanky arms as Scooby launched himself into the air…

And landed in her arms, licking her purple face. Sibella couldn't hide a laugh as she carefully set the energetic dog down on the roof beside her. His tail was busy wagging away, which was a good sign after what he had been through.

"Easy Scoob, you don't want to hurt yourself."

Shaggy stood there dumbfounded. Not only was Scooby alright, but here he was standing right in front of them.

Well, right beside Sibella, rather. But he looked alright. Wait a second, did Sibella call him…

"Scooby, what are you doing here?" Shaggy shook his head as Sibella knelt down beside the big dog to talk to him. She seemed to have caught the look in Shaggy's eye and didn't want to dive into that just yet. She would have to be more careful.

"Rell, I roke rup rin a rosrital red rith Red, Raphne, and Relma riling rat re." (Well, I Woke up in a hospital bed with Fred, Daphne, and Velma smiling at me.) Suddenly Scooby seemed to get distracted. He jumped up, placing his paws on Sibella's shoulders. "Roh reah, Red ris rehe! Ret's ro ree rim!" (Oh yeah, Fred is here! Let's go see him!).

Scooby was bounding toward the window, but at a slower gait. Apparently rushing out of the window had hurt him. Sibella came over to help him through the window. Shaggy was still rooted to his spot, dumbfounded. Sibella turned to look at him.

"Shaggy." She looked at him imploringly. This seemed to snap him out of his confusion. He took a few large steps over to the window to help. As he reached out, he wasn't sure if he should actually touch his best friend at first. After a second's hesitation, Shaggy leaned down to help Scooby through. There was a bit of a flinch from the dog, but it passed nearly as soon as it appeared as Shaggy gently lifted the Great Dane over the window sill. With tears in his eyes, he turned back to face Sibella.

"He's…but then….and I…" As he mumbled through his words, Sibella pulled him gently into a hug. After a quick peck on the cheek, she pulled away and took his hand.

"Come now, Mr. Rogers, let's follow Mr. Doo to see Mr. Jones." She offered him a comforting grin. After Shaggy offered a pitiful attempt to laugh at her, she sighed and pulled him through the window.

This was going to be a long night.

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Fred sat patiently down by the van at the gate. He didn't want to intrude, but he wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with this situation. It had been over a month since he had learned about Shaggy, but it was still shocking. The timid coward he and his friends had found annoying, yet endearing, was apparently far more than met the eye. More than that, here Fred sat on the door of a place that, according to Scooby, proved the mystery solving team wrong that monsters were always a man in a mask.

Fred shook himself from his thoughts as he heard footsteps approaching. He looked toward the gate to see Scooby walking gingerly accompanied by a beautiful, tall woman with purple hair. She walked with a grace which almost led him to think she was floating, kind of like a dream. But as Fred turned to see who was behind them, he knew this was no dream.

A couple of feet behind the dog and young woman walked one of Fred's oldest friends. The lanky teen had grown up since their mystery solving days. He had grown very tall and even for having been so lanky, his gymnast days had helped him build some decent muscle tone. Of course as he took in his old roommate's slumped shoulders and defeated look on his face, Shaggy suddenly looked far smaller than Fred remembered him ever being. Of course all the memories of the Wolf Man Shaggy attacking him and his friends and what Shaggy had done to Scooby came back to mind. Fred felt a bit confused if he were being honest.

"Rey Red!" Scooby shouted to the blond man as Fred pulled himself off of the Mystery Machine.

"Hey Scooby!" he turned to face the woman beside the dog. "Fred Jones, pleasure to meet you miss….?" Fred extended his hand.

"Sibella." She stated it simply. Not curtly, but Fred could feel the ice behind it. She did not move to take his hand. Instead she gently scratched Scooby behind the ears.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Sibella. Scooby has told me a bit about this school. I'm just glad to see him happy again." As he said this last bit, he saw Shaggy perk up a bit. Of course Sibella remained stoic. Scooby was smiling, but was lost in the feeling of Sibella's long nails finding that perfect spot behind his left ear. As his leg and tail began to twitch, Shaggy offered Sibella a glance. He thought he was the only one who knew about that spot. Maybe she had found it by accident.

Fred went on, trying to break the ice. "So Miss Sibella, are you a teacher here?"

"What I am is of no concern right now, Mr. Jones. What are you doing here?"

Fed sighed as he knew he wouldn't be getting much further just yet.

"Well, Scooby woke up. His first question was obviously for some food, but after that, he just kept asking where Shaggy was. Well, none of us knew. We were all still a bit shaken from…the situation." Here Fred cast his eyes over to Shaggy. He saw shaggy tense at the mention of the situation, so Fred quickly moved on.

"So Scooby told us about this place. A school for exceptional people. He thought someone here might know where Shaggy was for some reason. We weren't too sure, but there was no stopping him. So as soon as Scooby was well enough to travel, He and I jumped into the Mystery Machine to make our way here. He also told me a bit more about the school on the way. I'll be honest, it…throws me off a bit. But Scooby wanted to find Shaggy and honestly, so did I."

Here he stopped to face Shaggy. "Shag, I didn't react in the best way when everything happened. I'm not going to lie, I was scared shitless. To be honest, I am still a bit scared. But you are one of my oldest friends, and I shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm sorry buddy."

Shaggy dropped his shoulders from the tense position they had been in previously. "Like, It's alright Fred. I don't blame you. It was only natural. We spent, like, years chasing fake monsters, like, always talking about how real ones didn't exist."

Sibella had been watching this happen. Seeing the relaxation in Shaggy, she went over and placed her had on his shoulder, taking a deep breath.

"Mr. Jones, thank you for brining Scoob to see Shaggy. I and the rest of the women here would greatly appreciate it if, for the sake of the girls, you didn't share what you know of this place with anyone." This time Shaggy didn't miss it. She called him Scoob. Of course Sibella did not give him time to dwell on this.

"Shaggy, dear, are you ok?" Shaggy nodded at her mutely. She turned to Scooby who had not left his spot between Shaggy and Fred. His tail had stopped wagging and was standing straight up as he faced Shaggy. Slowly he stalked toward Shaggy. Shaggy wouldn't even look up as he felt Scooby's eyes on him.

"Reach, are rou rok Raggy?" Shaggy tensed as Scooby asked him that. It was the first time Scooby had spoken to him since he had arrived. Well, almost. There was that small comment after he had kissed Sibella. Ahh, that kiss. Wait, attention to Scooby. He looked up with tears brimming out of his eyes.

"Scoob, I am soooooooooo sorry. There is no excuse for what I did. Especially after everything you have done for me. I'm sorry." Here, looking completely crestfallen, Shaggy fell to his knees. Scooby suddenly started wagging his tail again. Even bandaged, he sprinted over to his friend.

"Reah, rou rould re. Rafter rall I rent rough, Ri rust ranted ro ree rou and roou reren't rere. Ri rissed rou Raggy." (Year, you should be. After all I went through, I just wanted to see you and you weren't there. I missed you). Here he jumped up on Shaggy, licking his face. The tears in Shaggy's eyes suddenly began to glisten with joy.

"Like, I missed you too buddy."

Fred let out a breath he had been holding. "Whew, wonderful. So can we grab something to eat or…" He trailed off as Sibella got a dangerous glint in her eye. In the blink of an eye, she was standing uncomfortably close to him. She offered a toothy smile and Fred could have sworn he saw fangs.

"Mr. Jones. Welcome to Grimwood's. Please don't ever do something like that to my Shaggy again. He has been through a great ordeal. He and Scooby both." She softened her stance here. "Now Fred, please join us for a late night snack if you will."

She turned and sauntered off. Fred gaped. Her Shaggy? This was a lot to take in. And did she really have fangs or was the light playing tricks on him?

She slowed as she stood beside Shaggy and Scooby. "Coming dear? You too Scoob?"

Shaggy took her hand and carefully stood up. It had been a very long night and he wasn't sure what would happen next. Of course she had called him hers, so there was that. And what was this with her calling Scooby Scoob?

He would have to ask about that one.

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Fred sat staring at the food before him. It was slightly less shocking than everything else he had learned in the past hour. Of course, when a fly and peanut butter sandwich on rotten bread was less shocking…

He chanced a glance up at the room around him. He was met by four pairs of staring eyes. Through the window he could see a the dragon's tail. Wow was this a lot to take in. Shaggy was on the other end of the table, collapsed into a large plush chair. The Purple lady was beside him. Sibella, that's right. The…vampire?

The blue girl who was floating started first. What was her name? Phanty? The was the ghost, the phantom.

"Ok Mr. Jones. Now you know about us. We are the children of the monsters you read about growing up. We actually exist." There was not a hint of laughter in her voice. The mummy looking one went next. She was…Tammy? Tan…? Tanis! Right? Sounded like an old Egyptian City?

"Now we need to know, can you be trusted? This school is a very special place. It means a great deal to myself and the rest of these ladies."

The taller woman with the bolts in her neck was next. She came to stand beside him. Even Fred's 6'4" frame was nothing compared to her. She had to be at least 7' tall! He knew she was related to Frankenstein. Her name was…Elsa? Ok, he had to do a better job on this name thing.

"Mr. Jones, do not cross us. You have heard the terror stories from our fathers. I promise you we are a great deal worse when threatened."

Here Shaggy stepped in. Regardless of how Fred had acted, he was here and had brought Scooby with him. Shaggy rose to his feet, calling in a commanding voice. As he did, Sibella just watched him.

"Ladies, please. Fred is a good guy. You can trust him."

"After the way he reacted to you?!" It was a biting remark from the young orange haired lady in the middle of the table. She followed this with a howling laugh. There werewolf, Winnie, Fred reminded himself. Shaggy stood now. He seemed far more confidant that Fred had ever seen him before.

"To be fair, Winnifred, I kept a secret from him as well. Yet here he is and he brought Scooby to us." At this, Scooby moved from his spot in the middle of the table where he had been devouring food and walked over to Fred. He snuggled his head up underneath of Fred's hand, which had been hanging over the arm of the chair he occupied.

"Reah, Red's Ralright."

As they heard Scooby speak for the first time since they had all arrived in the room, the rest of the ladies relaxed. If Coach and Scooby said he was ok, they would trust it.

"Excellent! Now, back to bed everyone. The rest of those girls will be up and very energetic in just a few hours." Shaggy watched as the ladies just stared at him. No one even attempted to move. He continued softly. "Please?"

As the word fell from his mouth, the ladies begrudgingly stood to leave. They each gave Fred a smack on the arm or back before strolling over to hug Scooby and Shaggy. Finally, it was just Scooby, Shaggy, and Fred in the room. Sibella hesitated in the door way, waiting to catch Shaggy's eyes. He turned to see her staring at him and smiled. It was a real smile that reached all the way to his eyes. She felt her heart flutter. Ugh, being an ice cold vampire princess was so much harder when he did that.

"I'll see you later."

It wasn't suggestive, just a simple statement, but it made her stomach do flips. The way he said it, meant just for her….mmmm…

She turned to leave the room, trying to hide the blush rising in her cheeks. Plus she had her own plan to get on with.

Scooby looked up wimpering a bit at Shaggy. Shaggy smiled back.

"No worries old buddy. It's the same room and the bed is just waiting for you." He offered with a smile. Scoob returned it and took off to catch up with Sibella before she reached the stairs. He knew he would need some help navigating those again.

As Scooby left, Shaggy returned his attention to Fred. After an uncomfortable silence between the two old friends, Shaggy started.

"Fred, I'm sorry."

Fred looked up from the plate his attention had returned to.

"Me too. I shouldn't have run…and more than that, I shouldn't have told you to."

He was interrupted as Shaggy laughed.

"Fred, you have nothing to apologize for. I literally attacked you, your friends, and your family. You did what any good friend would have done. It hurt when you told me to leave, but I understood. You saw the monster in your friend, and it was a monster I couldn't control."

"But I should have known better. We all should have." Fred stepped in. "Shaggy, you have been my friend nearly our entire lives. I should have been there to help, not there to push you away."

Shaggy felt himself flinch at the word friend. After what he had done to Scooby, he had given up on ever hearing that word again. But he had to admit that it felt nice. "Thanks Freddy." He stood up to and came around the table to sit near Fred.

"Also, before you ask, no the others aren't scared either. Well, no more than me. Daphne and Velma are watching Jasmine, waiting to hear from me. We figured it might be easier if…one of us saw you at a time rather than you getting all our questions at once."

Shaggy smiled at the thoughtfulness. Friends. It felt good.

"Thanks Fred. Let's talk." Shaggy and Fred stayed up for a few more hours as Shaggy laid out his entire story before Fred. It was much easier knowing that Sibella was there for him, even if not in the room right then.

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This time it was Sibella sitting outside waiting for him. Since he was not quite as graceful as her, she didn't have to smell him to know he was coming. She heard the roof creak as he moved onto it.

"Hey Shaggy."

He smiled. It really sounded nice when she said his name. It also made his heart race for some reason.

"Hey Sibella. Mind if I join you?"

"Only if you don't sit close enough for me to kiss you. Our last one was interrupted…though I don't mind all things considered."

Shaggy dropped himself down beside her. With a wicked grin on his face, he turned the slim vampire to face him, pulling her into his lap. All of this was done with more grace than she realized he possessed and caught her quite off guard. Then his lips were against hers. They were gently, passionately seeking hers. She could feel him pouring all he had into that kiss, every last ounce of what and who he was.

And she melted into it. The cold Vampire Princess didn't exist, not with him. When his arms held her, when his lips were there, none of that mattered. All that she knew was that she needed to feel him against her.

After a few minutes, both rose from the kiss breathless. After a few deep breaths, Shaggy broke the silence.

"Wow."

She giggled. Wait, what? She hadn't giggled in…well, years. What was happening to her? As she turned and looked up into his face, she saw how the light played on his jaw. She was entranced. She carefully nuzzled her nose deep into his neck, feeling the warmth of his blood flowing. It felt amazing. And she felt his arms wrap tighter around her, holding her close. It felt..perfect.

The couple sat there for hours. Not another word was spoken. They just held onto one another. Nothing else mattered. Just being together.

As dawn began to rise, the Wolf Man and the Vampire Princess slowly, reluctantly, let one another go and returned to their rooms, knowing everything was different.

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Shaggy stretched as he walked through the top of the stairs. It had been a long, emotionally draining day, but it had been a good day. He had taken the girls out to play soccer that morning and he had to admit they were pretty good. Maybe he would try volleyball next. That could make for an interesting debate.

The ladies seemed to have calmed down toward Fred. He was glad. It wasn't really Fred's fault anyway. Fred had just been trying to protect his family from a ravenous beast, not knowing it was his friend. And more than that, he had apologized and called Shaggy his friend. Everything would be alright.

Then there was the rest of his thoughts. His heart was still heavy, but the past few days had started to brighten things up for him. Fred was back, and seemed to be slowly adjusting. Scoob was back in his life and seemed to be ok with being around him.

Then there was Sibella. That was where his thoughts centered. She had grown into quite the woman. He and Scoob had checked in on them from time to time and Miss Grimwood had given them updates. Of course most of that had ended just before the girls graduated.

He had missed them, but for some reason he had missed her more than the rest. Considering the past few days, he knew why, or he thought he did. He wasn't sure, but she had been there, in her own way.

And then she had called him Scoob? What had that been about?

Shaggy had gone out running, trying to escape his thoughts. They were peaceful, yet stressful. The longer he spent dwelling, the more confused he became. It was all he could take, so the Wolf Man had gone out and burnt off some energy. He had run through the swamp, not even caring when he ran through a spider's web. Well, heck, what could a spider do to him anymore? He just kept his feet churning, pushing him step after step farther forward.

After about an hour, he had found himself back at the mansion. Not that it mattered, it seemed his thoughts were there to stay. But that was life. So he stole quietly into the house. It was late when he had returned and he didn't want to wake anyone up. As he made his way toward his door, he stopped at the window. As he looked out, he could already see her there, waiting for him. He smiled at that. It felt good. No one else had ever cared about him that much except for Scooby.

Shaggy slid the window up and moved his long body through to meet her. As he got close, one thought came to his mind which had been gnawing at him all day long.

"Scoob, huh? Not Scooby or Mr. Doo?" He smirked as he came to sit down beside her.

She looked over at him, a look of shock on her face. "Oh. Yes. That." She stopped.

He pulled her into a hug. "I'm not mad…just confused. Care to share?"

Before she could stop it, she was staring into his eyes. Those eyes which she always managed to get lost in. This wouldn't end well. Ugh!

"Ok, Shaggy. If you really want to know, I will tell you. Just…promise not to get mad at…anyone?" As she said this, she offered a nervous glance back toward the window. He gently pulled her chin back to face him before laying a kiss on her lips. It was done before she registered.

"I promise Sibella." He held her stare, waiting. It took a minute for her to shake herself from his trance.

"Ugh, OK! So this is about you and Scooby…and all…though I didn't know it was you at the time, and now…and…let me start from the beginning." Feeling herself blush, the young vampire shifted herself deeper into his embrace, preparing to tell him of her tale.

"So a few years ago, I got some mail. The writing was scribbled and it took some time to read, but it was from Scooby. He said you and he were having some problems with a creature. He said he knew I had some knowledge in dealing with this particular type of creature and was hoping I could help him out. Well I sent him my number and we set up a time to meet.

"When we met, I thought it was weird that you weren't around, but Scooby was so happy to see me and I was happy to see him as well. We went for a walk and chatted. We caught up about life and what was going on. It was about four years ago. He talked about the gang trying to get back together. As I went to ask him about you, he suddenly changed the subject. He asked me about werewolves. Said there were some issues near you all with on transitioning and that he was trying to help him. We talked about the history of it for a bit, but Scoob just kept saying he wanted to help the guy."

She stopped here, letting Shaggy take it all in. He gave her an impassive look, but gestured for her to go on. "We talked a lot over the next few months. We talked about what the transition was supposed to be like and steps he could do to protect himself and others. Scooby kept asking how to protect the guy and how much he would remember. I told him that until he claimed it, the guy would never control it, nor would he remember everything if he was ever fully wolf. It was apparently a long process, but Scooby was always so positive. I offered to talk to dad to see about reversing it for the poor guy. I even offered to 'control him' to see if that would help. Scoob brushed it all off. Scoob said he was having a hard time and was losing friends left and right. I asked Scoob if he would leave the guy and he told me never, not even if the guy attacked him."

She paused here as a single drawn out sob emitted itself from Shaggy's body. After a few deep breaths of fighting back tears, Shaggy squeezed her to get her to continue.

"Well, apparently things started getting better. Scooby was brighter. Said his friend was doing much better and even around other people now. I kept asking about how you and he were doing, but he would always answer to say you all were fine. Still best buds and running from trouble. I should have known better." She laughed a bit at herself on this one. "You two may have been 'cowards' to everyone else, but we Grimwood girls always knew you were heroes." She wrapped her arms around her wolf man, now crying against her. He didn't try to hide it anymore.

"Well we last spoke about a month and a half ago. Scooby mentioned that you all had family visiting. Didn't talk about his friend. Seemed everything was going well."

She stopped and turned to face Shaggy. "That was the last time I heard from him until you arrived. We had gotten close. I kept asking to talk to you or if you could come to one of our meetings. Scoob never gave me more, just that you were alright and still as hungry as ever. I never knew we were talking about you the whole time."

Her eyes fell from his as she stated the last line. Then fury took her once again. Sibella jumped to her feet.

"Sibella, where are you going?" She stared at hime and he could feel the anger burning in her eyes.

"To see my idiot father. No one should have to go through this Shaggy, especially not someone as kind as you."

"Please don't Sibella."

"No, I'm going and don't try to stop me!" Sibella shouted. She turned on her heel, attempting to move away when she slipped. Had she been in her usual state of alertness, she would have turned into a bat and all would have been fine. Instead, with caring and anger burning inside of her, she felt herself fall, going over the edge of the roof. She screamed like she never knew she could scream. For a second she was terrified.

Then, as soon as it began, the falling stopped. She found herself rightside up in a warm embrace, softly on the ground. She stood, shocked. Shaggy was holding her, though he seemed bigger than before. She could see his canine's clearly bared. His chest was heaving as he set her down gently. Then the teeth receded and was replaced by his smile.

"Don't do that to me Sibella. I wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't lose you." She suddenly found her anger fading in the face of his eyes. She melted into his embrace, coming as close to him as their clothes would allow.

"Besides, If you got me changed back, imagine how much more complicated this would be." He offered, squeezing her for good measure.

"Now then, do you trust me?" She stared at him, nodding blankly. "Good, now hold on tight, my Queen." With that, he wrapped his arms around her and jumped. In a second they were back in their spot on the roof. In her fear (wait, a vampire afraid? He really was messing with her.) she had wrapped her legs around his waist. For his part, he had moved his hands to the only place available to make sure she did not fall, her perfect ass.

In this position, they stared at one another for a moment before their positions suddenly hit them. Losing her legs, Shaggy carefully set her down. Their argument was forgotten in their embarrassment.

"Like, sorry Sibella."

"No, I'm sorry Shaggy."

They stood their staring at one another's feet. Sibella thought to herself that she had really screwed it up. He was hurting and here she was yelling at him.

"Actually, I'm not sorry." Before she could react to what he had said, Sibella felt Shaggy's hands on her again as he pulled her into an embrace.

"You already said I am yours, and that is what I want to be." With that, Shaggy brought the lips of the dumbfounded vampire princess to his, kissing her passionately. Soon she was kissing back and they felt their lips part in order to explore one another. If that first kiss had been amazing, it held nothing on this kiss.

Soon, Shaggy pulled himself away. "MMMM, but not tonight." He caught the crestfallen look of shock on Sibella's face. "Trust me, it is not that I don't want to. I would do anything for you and my body tells me I could certainly take you tonight. But I care about you too much. I want to be with you Sibella, and I want to do this right."

Here he offered his lips to hers for one last gentle kiss before pulling away and slipping through the window.

"Goodnight, my queen."

He was gone almost before she realized it. She was lost in her own world at the thought of everything he had just said. Smiling to herself, she began to sway on the roof, dancing to the music in her head and the thought of being Shaggy's. Well, she had already said he was hers, so it only seemed fair. She was his…queen? Hmm, she liked the sound of that.

In her haze, she did not notice the shadow closing in near her. It enveloped her completely before she could utter a sound. She faded into the shadow.

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Sibella woke a short time later. She looked around her to see dreary stone walls surrounding her bed. The bed itself was and old four poster which was draped in black and covered in fur. Well this certainly couldn't be good. What now?

From her side rumbled a laugh. She tried to turn, but found that she was chained to the bed, particularly on her side. The voice went on laughing as she felt the figure more into her sight. As he did, she felt dread catch her. Not him, not now. This wasn't what she needed!

He voice boomed out with a thick Transylvanian accent. "Vy hello my daughter. It vould seem you have been making friends. Ve shall have to correct this."

Dracula stood before her, in all of his gory glory, laughing.


	3. Chapter 3: To Be a Wolf

Ok, so this chapter is a bit shorter. Really setting up the next chapters. Thank you for the reviews and views thus far and I hope you enjoy!

 _Chapter 3_

Shaggy stretched, careful not to disturb the brown, black, and medical bandage blob at the foot of the bed. It had been a good night, all things considered. Heck, not matter which way you sliced it, it had been a good night!

As Shaggy disentangled himself from the sheets, he rose quietly. Scoob had a late night too, so it would probably be best to let the dog get a few more winks. As Shaggy stole out of the room, he heard the chaos beginning below. Ah well, maybe today would be a good day to try volleyball with the girls.

Bounding down the stairs three, sometimes four at a time, Shaggy had to be careful not to trip over several small women who giggled as he moved past. He almost lost his balance once as Phanty appeared from beneath a floorboard, but managed to catch a step further down.

"Where's the fire, Coach?" The blue phantom giggled after his running form.

"You've seen this house shake when they really get going, Phanty." He shouted back. Continuing on his way, Shaggy soon found himself in the dining room. Miss Grimwood was at the head of the table, one arm draped over the arm of the chair with Thing rubbing her hand while the other elbow was on the other arm, her forehead resting on her palm.

The room suddenly became still and quiet as Shaggy strode in. Miss Grimwood looked up and smiled at the lanky, yet powerful looking man. He was certainly not the scared teen he had been during his previous tenure as the physical instructor for her. He now had…almost a regal bearing. It suited him, she felt. And as he had been good on wearing the girls out with his workouts over the past few days, she came to appreciate him even more. Of course he always had a special place in her heart for how gallantly he had defended the girls during his first visit and cared for them, even if he had been terrified.

Offering her a toothy smile, Shaggy squared his shoulders. He took a deep breath, preparing to bellow through the rest of the house.

"Ladies!" Suddenly each and every student was lined up before him. Phanty and Elsa even managed to fall in. Shaggy offered them a steel eyes look, carefully surveying those lined up before him. He almost looked like a general reviewing his troops. Just as they began to falter under his glare, his eyes softened.

"How would you all like to try your hand at volleyball?"

His suggestion was followed by a rousing cheer which shook the rest of the occupants of the house into wakefulness, followed by the girls pouring from the front door on their way to the court.

Shaggy went over to her side as Miss Grimwood stood up. He bent down to hug her.

"Thank you."

Before she could respond, he was out the door.

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Winnie yawned as she strolled into the dining room. She quickly took stock of the occupants before going to sit near Tanis. Phanty and Elsa were sitting near the middle of the table, devouring their own food. Tanis was near one end with an open seat next to her. Odd, she didn't see Sibella anywhere. It was strange for the Vampire not to beat everyone down here. Of course that is what typically happened when you didn't need sleep. Maybe she had ended up having a really good night last night. Winnie grinned at this thought. She would need to ask Coach about that.

As Winnie loaded her plate down, she caught sight of the blond man sitting down at the other end of the table. He still looked uncomfortable, but she had to give him credit for not running away screaming yet. Maybe there was more to this man than she had originally thought. Then again, after how he had treated Coach, who was supposed to be a friend, maybe not.

Grimacing over this last thought, Winnie dropped her plate loudly before her. As everyone's eyes turned to her, Tanis spoke up.

"You'll have to forgive Winnie. Always the werewolf." She smiled around. Soon everyone had gone back to their own plates and thoughts. Winnie let out a huff.

"Why do you always do that?"

Tanis shook her head, staring back. "Why me? Why do you always have to act so rude?"

"I was…" Winnie trailed off. The blond man was standing and moving their direction. He was carrying his sparsely covered plate with him. He walked hesitantly, not even raising his eyes as he moved toward them before settling into a seat between Elsa and Tanis.

"H-Hi. I'm Fred and-"

Instantly and before he could go on, all four ladies picked up their stuff and moved to the other end of the table in unison. Winnie was the loudest, almost guffawing at this.

"Good morning Mr. Jones."

Miss Grimwood had come into the room from the kitchen as she heard the ruckus. She offered a glare at her old students, almost a disappointed look. Tanis and Phanty had the wherewithal to look down, Elsa not even bringing her eyes to look at her mentor.

Winnie, however, offered no shame. She glared straight back at her teacher and dug into her food.

Fred, looking dejected, offered a hollow hello to Miss Grimwood in return, slumping his shoulders.

After a few minutes, where only their utensils, chewing, and Winnie's occasional snorts, there was a sigh. Miss Grimwood turned to leave the room. As she did, Tanis slumped. She stood up with her plate. As she did, she felt a hand on her arm and looked back to see Winnie. There was a bit of confusion in her eyes.

"Well Coach forgave him. Maybe we should try to get to know him at least?" Tanis whispered at her girlfriend. As she said this, Phanty and Elsa perked up. Deciding it was best not to come between the two lovers, they picked up their own plates and moved to the other side of the table, but nearer Fred.

Tanis gently pulled away from Winnie to move toward Fred.

"Good morning Mr. Jones." She offered with her gentle smile.

"Fred, please. Mr. Jones is my dad." Fred offered, trying to lighten the mood.

Tanis smiled and took a seat beside him. "Nice to meet you Mr…Fred. Thank you for coming all this way to bring Scooby to see us."

"It was what Scooby wanted and he always was the best pal any of us could have asked for." Fred stopped, not sure of what else to say. So Tanis stepped in.

"Fred, could you tell us about Coach? We only know…well, part of his life. But we don't really know about his adventures with you and the…gang?" she said the last word, unsure if it was the right one. Fred let out a small laugh.

"I would love to. It all started long ago when…" As Fred began his story, Elsa and Phanty moved closer and Tanis leaned in. Seeing the smile in Fred's face, Winnie couldn't help but relax herself. She knew there would be some good stuff coming now. Pity Sibella wasn't around, she would probably love getting all this dirt on Coach.

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Shaggy was busy cleaning up a mess. The girls had taken to volleyball…well, ok, there wasn't really a good metaphor for how poorly they had taken to volleyball. They were terrible. But based on all the laughter, at least they had fund. Of course now he was busy picking up pieces of balls, nets, posts, and even his shirt which somehow got burnt off in the process. He figured that had something to do with matches who had been lounging dangerously nearby.

As Shaggy made one last pass of the space, he saw a dragon tail disappear into the woods. Yep, definitely Matches who had caused his shirtless condition. But it was better than actually burning him, so Shaggy would take it. He smiled as he turned to head back toward the mansion.

As he neared the door, he knew something didn't feel right, but he wasn't sure. Something smelled…off. Eh, it was probably nothing. He was just smelling the singed bits left of his shirt.

Approaching the door, he was met by outrageous laughter. It made him smile. This place could use some laughter. The ladies especially after all he had unloaded on them last night. He walked up the steps and stepped into the dining hall.

"Then Shaggy, well he…"Fred trailed off as the subject of the story entered the room. Fred offered him a sheepish grin and the rest of the rooms occupants turned to see the shirtless man standing there staring.

"Well I never…"

"Oh my."

"No Wonder she is interested."

Along with some wolf whistles from the girls, this last comment was met by a smack from Winnie as she punched Tanis in the arm. "I'm right here dear. Really?" Shaggy was indeed becoming quite the man. He had taken to shaping his hair with a bit of paste and his scruffy beard had grown into a handsome full five o'clock shadow. On top of that, the girls could now all see a well-defined chest and abs tapering down from powerful shoulders and arms.

Fred went on. "Sorry Shaggy, they were asking for stories about your days with Mystery Incorporated. It seemed like the best time to share. Didn't expect you to interrupt quite so…naked." Here Freddy grinned at the blushing wolf man. For all he had grown, Shaggy was still a bit nervous about such things. Standing there half naked was rather uncomfortable. Trying to recover himself, Shaggy shot back at the blond man.

"Well don't forget to tell them about the Cheese incident."

"That was you Shaggy."

"Well then at least remember the fiasco at the castle."

"Once again you, thought I think Scooby played a role in that one."

"Well then what about…" As Shaggy realized it was a losing battle, he shut his mouth. Fred's stories were not bad. And hey, they had made everyone laugh. Even Winnie. Shaggy smiled. "Well keep going. I need a new shirt after that battle with Matches."

Shaggy turned to head toward the stairs. As Fred reached another punchline, he heard another rousing chorus from the dining room.

Once in his room, Shaggy found Scooby sitting awake in the bed. As Shaggy put on a green shirt, he turned to face the Great Dane.

"So how'd you sleep, Scoob old buddy old pal?"

"Reat Raggy!"

"Wonderful. You should head down. Apparently Fred is telling stories and you know how that goes."

Before he could finish, Scooby was out the door for food and Fred's stories. Certainly he was off to stop Fred from saying anything too embarrassing about him, but Shaggy knew Fred wouldn't do that. He would tell the truth, sure, but he always found a way to make Shaggy and Scooby come out as heroes on some level. Fred really was a good guy.

As he finished his shower, Shaggy shrugged into a new shirt. He found that sense of dread again. He gave a deep sniff and knew something was off. He could feel it and knew things were bad. He would need to talk to the girls about this.

Running back down stairs, he ran into the dining room searching for the ladies he knew he could trust. Fred had just finished his stories and had gone out for a few things from the mystery machine. This was perfect. Since the younger Grimwood girls were all in class, Shaggy could talk to these women directly.

"Winnie, Tanis, Phanty, Elsa, let's talk. Has anyone seen Sibella?"

The look of concern on their Coach's face immediately put the girls on edge. Something was wrong and it was now up to them as a team to figure it out.

"Coach, last I saw or heard from Sibella, she was with you."

Shaggy grimaced at this. That was not in the least news he wanted to hear right now.

"Girls, something is wrong. I can smell it. It smells…foul."

Here they all tensed. Winnie in particular. She hadn't smelled anything out of place. At least no more than normal. She looked at Coach with awe. If he could smell it, then maybe he really was a wolf man after all. She shook that thought from her head and turned her attention back to him.

"But first, we need to find Sibella. Let's go. Everyone check your rooms. Winnie, check Sibella's room. Move!"

His last word brought instant action from the girls as they all sprinted off to search. Shaggy shook his head, moving back toward the stairs himself. As he came by the window at the top of the stairs, he came across Scooby-Doo.

"Scoob, whats up?" Scooby was just sitting on his haunches, staring out the window. Suddenly, Scooby growled and started barking at the window. As Shaggy looked out, he couldn't see anything. A quick sniff, however, told him this was where he should be searching. He jumped out the window as the girls came running toward Scooby's barking.

"Scooby, whats wrong?" Phanty shouted at him. Seeing him bark out the window, the girls looked to see Shaggy out there frantically walking back and forth, his own nose in the air. Haning their heads out the window, Elsa called out.

"What is it Coach?"

"Wait!"

They paused, hanging their heads out the window for an uncomfortably long period of time. Just when it felt like they could not hold that position any longer, Shaggy broke into their thoughts.

"I smell…it smells…ugh, I'm not sure. I can smell Sibella, but there is something else. It smells like her, but not."

"What do you mean, Coach?" Winnie carefully extracted herself from the other girls as she joined him out on the roof.

"I can Smell SIbella here faintly. She smells like-"

"Strawberries and Iron." He gave her a confused look. "Yeah, I know. Werewolf, remember? Plus she told me you said she smelled like that."

He smiled and went on. "But there is another smell here. It smells like iron, like her. But there is more to it. It smells…almost…rotten. Like a corpse." He saw Winnie's eyes go wide in fear at that. The look of terror on her face said he should be scared, terrified. For some reason, though, it just infuriated him. This meant something bad for Sibella, and he would not allow that.

"What, Winnie? Please tell me?"

She shook her head dumbly. Everyone carefully slid through the window except Elsa who was way too tall. She crouched down beside Scooby so she could hear.

"Ok, well that smell? I can't smell it. But I have heard dad talk about it. It is a smell that only…certain wolves can smell. See, there is a long history of us werewolves. We all come from a wolf man. The wolf man is stronger than any of us by far. At one time, the wolves were the kings of the monster world. But it was hard for us to reproduce and slowly vampires overtook us as the dominant population. In that instant, they became the king's. And in that, the strongest among them the king of monsters."

Pausing to stare, she saw little recognition on their faces. She dove on through her tale. "Well, as the new king came into power, he turned us werewolves into his slaves. He could simply reach in and control us. We became little more than his tools. Of course that didn't fly. The wolf man, still stronger than the king, took the offensive. Sadly it didn't matter. The vampires won since the werewolves were under the king's control. This left the wolf man, though not controlled by the king, at his mercy. He gave the power to create new wolf men to the king. However he did not give this king the power to ever control those wolf men. It became a bit of a balanced system through this. The wolf men were far stronger than the vampire individually. Even with a few at a time. But as the wolf men would always be far outnumbered they would never conquer the vampire."

She stopped and stared. Her next statement would shake a few people's worlds she was sure, and none more than the Coach's. "Well, my dad was that wolf man. He and the vampire king waged a long and bloody war. Even though the Vampire won, he always showed dad the respect he deserved as a wolf man."

She gulped. "See, that vampire king, that smell you just told us about Coach? It belongs to none other than Dracula Dracul."

"DRACULA!" The voices all shouted in unison. There was a bit of a stunned silence from everyone.

Well, everyone except Shaggy. He was pacing. He could smell Dracula and he could smell Sibella and he knew exactly what that meant. It meant Dracula was once again trying to take something that mattered from him. It had already happened too many times.

It had happened while he was a teacher at Grimwood's. Dracula, albeit with some other monster fathers, had stepped in and threatened him and Scooby when all they wanted to do was be friends with the girls.

It had happened when he started racing. Dracula had cursed him and dragged him away from the racing life he loved. All he had wanted was to live in peace and race with Googie by his side.

It had happened with Googie and Scrappy. When Dracula had not removed the curse at the end of the race, the stress had been too great and they had left him. All he wanted was a quiet peaceful life.

It had happened when he began to feel in control of his life. Dracula had entered his thoughts and driven him to unleash the wolf. That particular curse had cost him friends, family, and apartment. It had nearly cost him Scoob. All he'd wanted was to live forgotten.

And it was happening now. He had found someone he cared about deeply and Dracula had stepped in to get in his way, stripping that person from his life. It did not matter if she was his daughter, this was unacceptable.

Feeling the wolf rising in his blood, Shaggy turned to face Winnie, his teeth bared.

"Winnie, Tanis, Phanty, Elsa, Thank you all. Please stay here and protect the girls. I don't know what will be returning from this journey, but they are going to need you."

The girls stared dumbly as fur began to Shaggy's teeth began to stretch into dangerously sharp canine teeth.

"Scoob, care to join me?" As Scooby jumped out the window, Shaggy turned and let out a long low whistle. Suddenly a scaled leather back was beside them at the edge of the roof. Shaggy stepped onto the great lizard as the Great Dane joined him. They settled in.

"Let's go see the bat, Matches." Shaggy growled.

The girls stood rooted in fear. All of the tales their own parents had shared to scare little monsters as children had just come to life before them. A war between a Vampire and Wolf Man. The world had barely survived the last one. Could it stand this one?


	4. Chapter 4: The Pit

Shaggy felt the cold night air crashing into his face as Matches rushed along. He and Scooby had already been draped across the dragon's back for nearly two hours. Most days, this would have easily worn them both out and even lulled them to sleep. With the unfortunate situation and new knowledge hanging over their heads, however, neither was in much of a sleeping mood. Neither one had said a word since they left Grimwood's either.

Both knew the night ahead of them would be both tiring and stressful. The past few days had already taken its agonizing toll on their emotions. This had already been in addition to the past few years. All things considered, both wanted to get things handled so they would finally gain some peace and quiet. Matches seemed to sense all of this and put everything he had into getting them to Transylvania.

Shaggy felt a sense of foreboding which drew him out of his blind furry. There was a presence pushing its way into his mind. This presences was calling to him.

"Mr Rogers, welcome back to my world, hahahahaha." The growl behind it solidified for Shaggy who was calling to him. It was the wolf, and the howling in his comment reminded Shaggy who had really been in control of this situation. It reminded Shaggy of why he was here and what had led him to this flight.

The menacing voice was different than before, however. There was not the same level of venom and challenge. This time it almost seemed…friendly?

While Shaggy was lost in his thoughts, Scooby felt Matches begin to change his flight trajectory. As Scooby leaned carefully over to survey the landscape below without falling off of Matches, he noticed the large castle at the top of the cliff. The high walls offered great defense toward a ground offensive. Scooby smiled to himself. Good thing they were here for an airborne offensive. He barked once to get Shaggy's attention.

At Scooby's bark, Shaggy looked down to note the scene Scooby was trying to make him aware of. Ready or not, Bat, Shaggy was here.

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The Grimwood alumni were pacing, unable to contain their frustration. With Coach, Scooby, and Matches off to find Sibella, that really just left Elsa, Phanty, Tanis, and Winnie to defend the school. While that was certainly doable, it did not seem to make any of the girls happy.

As the boys had left, the girls went to find Miss Grimwood and tell her everything they had learned. With a look of pure terror on her eyes, Miss Grimwood faced the girls.

"Ladies, I must call on you for something I had hoped never to need. It would seem that the Vampire King has made a personal enemy of your coach. In the process, he has upset a very good man. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye about Mr Rogers. As the old saying goes, 'Demons run when a good man goes to war' (Sorry for the Doctor Who Reference). I am not sure what exactly Dracula has done to our poor Sibella, but you can all rest assured that your Coach will not let anything happen to her any more than she will let anything happen to him."

She stopped as the girls stared at her. They seemed to find a new level of confidence in this. "In the meantime, we must stand in their place and defend this school. I must protect my current students and I ask that you join me in defending the school."

Miss Grimwood stared around, waiting for confirmation from her previous students. As she made eye contact with each one, she noted them nodding individually. "Thank you girls. I must help hide the girls. You have your own plans to prepare."

As she turned to walk away, Fred came running up. "Miss Grimwood, I thought I just saw-"

She cut him off. "Mr. Jones, you are correct. You did indeed see a dragon flying off. That happens to be something of a mascot for the school. His name is Matches. In case you did not see, Mr Rogers and Mr Doo left with him. We will soon be in the throes of a very dangerous situation for all involved on our property. I would suggest you leave now, else you will have to choose sides."

As she finished, she gave him a pressing stare. It was as if she was waiting for his answer. Fred hesitated for a moment before diving in. "Miss Grimwood, my friend and I have always jumped in to help, even when we weren't the most qualified. I made the mistake of forgetting that when we learned about Shaggy. I won't back out again. How can I help?"

"Well great, glad to have the human on board. Now does anyone have a plan?" Winine asked in a rather irritated tone.

"Plan?" Fred brightened at this. He smiled as he turned to face the rest of the ladies present. "I have a plan…"

The girls all closed in around Fred, listening closely to his plan. It was going to be a long night, especially considering the players involved in this battle. However these ladies and this man were going to make their mark in one way or another.

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As Matches' feet settled onto the ground of the courtyard, Shaggy jumped off quickly taking stock of his surroundings. As Scooby slithered down Matches' back, Shaggy noted the sheer height of the walls. They were at least 60 feet tall on every side and they were as smooth as possible. They had obviously been constructed by a master mason. There wasn't even enough of a gap between the stones for him to get a grip. If things went back, he would be caught here. More than that, there was no cover around the courtyard.

Shaggy turned his attention back to the hulking frame of Matches, noting the Dragon's darting eyes. If possible, the Dragon looked scared. It seemed odd to Shaggy for a creature as big as Matches had become to find terror in a situation like this. Especially considering that Matches could actually fly out of this courtyard. Noting the terror in the Dragon would previously have left Shaggy a trembling mass on the ground. Today, however, he did not have time for fear. That wouldn't get him closer to Dracula and therefore closer to Sibella. Shaggy turned away and sighed.

"Matches, why don't you get back up in the air? I'll call if we get in over our heads." Shaggy et out his own little reassuring laugh at his joke. When he didn't hear anything in return, he glanced back over his shoulder. Noting that the dragon was gone, Shaggy relaxed a bit. He turned on his heel to face Scooby.

"Ready, old buddy old pal?"

At Scoob's growl, Shaggy knew the Great Dane was with him. Shaggy took a few calming breaths, trying to decide his next move. Watching the wall across from him, he paused as he heard a noise. There was a rush of stale wind as a hole began to make its presence known. As Shaggy stared at the hole, he noticed it getting larger, forming a door way in the center of the wall. Shaggy suddenly felt a queasy feeling in his stomach. Taking stock of the hole and his situation, Shaggy realized that not only was this convenient, but far too simple since he had yet to be attacked. Hmmmm…

Turning to look for Scooby, Shaggy realized that the dog was not where he had left him. Looking frantically for his four-legged furry pal, Shaggy became nervous for the first time since he had decided to come here. The last thing he needed or wanted was for Scooby to get hurt. Of course he should have considered the fact that Scooby was not magical like him or Matches before inviting the brave, stupid, foolish dog to join him.

Then there was the voice. That menacing one from before that had not been quite so menacing.

"Are you ready?" It was a plain question. No threat, no challenge like before. This was just as if an old mentor is talking to a pupil years later. It felt oddly satisfying and Shaggy knew this hole was his next step. After casting one more glance around for the Great Dane, Shaggy squared his shoulders back and strode off for the black hole.

What awaited him on the other side…well…

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Miss Grimwood had barricaded herself and the girls into the basement of the manor. It was considered a safe space for them and Miss Grimwood knew that with the help of the girls and Freddy, they even stood a chance of remaining safe.

Of course, she had known this place would keep them safe. That had been before though. Before Shaggy came to visit and his soirée into the monster world had led him to some unwanted powers. It had been before she had heard about the troubles Mr Rogers had faced and had gone to see him. It had been before SIbella tried to become the monster she had thought was expected of her. It had been before Shaggy and Sibella had found comfort in one another.

And it had been before Shaggy was pushed, possibly farther than ever before, because of the actions of that mad monster, Dracula Dracul.

With this new information, Miss Grimwood feared what would actually come next for her school and more importantly, for her girls. She held several close to her as they waited quietly in the basement to discover what their future held.

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Winnie was pacing back and forth across the porch. She had to admit, Freddy had one incredible plan. Of course it would have been a better plan if it had been able to make use of Sibella, Scooby, Matches, and Shaggy. With them gone, it fell to Herself, Tanis, Elsa, and Phanty, not to mention some fancy footwork from Fred. It was going to be hectic, but certainly they could manage.

She gave one last look out over the horizon. Then she saw it. Lining up across the edge of the school grounds came creatures in numbers she had never seen before. There were vampires, sure. That was expected considering Sibella's father. What concerned her was what else she saw. Staring out at the growing sea of red eyes, Winnie could see ghosts, trolls, goblins, centaurs, werewolves…

She did a double take on the last one. Werewolves? Helping Dracula as opposed to Shaggy? That could only mean one thing as far as Dracula's actions.

Staring out over the grounds, Winnie watched as the army of monsters began to advance. IT was slow at first, but no less terrifying. Each step by the collection of monsters revealed more and more to take their place should they fall. It seemed as if Dracula had called all of the monster world in to fight this battle for him. Seemed just like Dracula to do something like that.

Winnie stopped as she came to rest before the door. She reared her head back and let out a bone chilling howl as she felt her own vision beginning to fade. Was this from fear? Excitement? She wasn't sure, but it couldn't be good. Unable to fight it anymore, she faded into oblivion.

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As the sounds above her began to fade, Miss Grimwood decided perhaps it was time to explore. She would have the students stay here, but she needed to see the destruction before letting them out. Carefully withdrawing herself from the terrified embrace of a few girls, Miss Grimwood carefully ventured up the stairs. The creaking as each step groaned under her weight sounded harder and louder than she would ever remember. About half way up, Miss Grimwood turned back to face the girls.

"Stay here. I am going to see how things have gone."

Moving forward again, Miss Grimwood reached the top of the old stairs. She carefully reached out a hand and brought it to rest on the metal door knob. It felt cold in her hand and she just hoped that chilling feeling was not a premonition of what was to come.

With a deep breath, Miss Grimwood turned the handle and pulled the door open. As her eyes adjusted to the sight before her, she took in the cracked walls, torn carpet, shredded paintings, broken vases, and sadly the dead bodies. One fell in against her as she pulled the door open. As Miss Grimwood caught the body, she felt a gasp. 'Not quite dead' she reminded herself as she moved the person back to the hall to lay on flat ground.

As she turned to face the man, she noticed the familiar blue eyes and blond hair.

"Mr Jones. I am so glad you are not dead. What happened?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Fred made eye contact with the headmistress. As soon as he did, he pulled away. "We had a great plan in place. We put things in order and were so ready. We had prepared for any and all possible variants…Well, almost all of them. Apparently there was one which no one was ready for."

He coughed for a second. He had found the battle very difficult, but had somehow survived.

"That one we were not ready for was Winnie. Apparently Dracula has been calling werewolves to his cause. When he came to find Sibella, he decided he would need something for Coach. So he took control of Winnie. He drove her mad and pushed her. It was all we could do to stop her. She was a wild woman and not in a good way.

"Then the war began. There was so much happening so fast. Monsters were falling left and right. But each time Winnie jumped in to fight one of us, there was nothing to be done. No one could attack her. And it ended up costing us. She took each of us out bit by bit. Not killing us, but just enough to make sure we 'couldn't interfere' as she kept saying. It was bad."

Here Fred broke down into an uncontrollable fir of coughing. Miss Grimwood wrapped her arm around him. Fred went on. "When it was all over, this shadow appeared. It took all of the ladies. I'm not sure where, but you and I both know whom is behind this at the very least."

Miss Grimwood nodded absently. She knew as well and it seemed things were going from bad to worse. She was not sure she, let alone her school would survive this way. As she tried to pull away from Fred after settling him onto a couch, he grabbed her arm to stop him.

"Miss Grimwood, might I borrow your phone? I….need to make a phone call or two."

Looking down at the injured and bleeding blond man before her.

"Of course you can Fred. Thank you for all you have done.

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Moving out of the darkness, Shaggy found himself staring up into flickering lantern light. Turning to carefully face each side of his new room, Shaggy noted the creatures he saw. On three sides, there was an odd collection of just about every kind of monster one could imagine. And in each case, the monsters were there glaring at him. He could feel the anger in their stairs, but their anger felt forced.

It was the fourth wall which caught his eyes. Standing on a balcony, staring out over the pit which Shaggy found himself in was none other than the bat of the hour himself, Dracula. He was sitting there in his flowing coat, waiting for the noise to quiet down. As he slowly rose to his feet, Shaggy turned to see the purple hair beside Dracula. He just caught a glimpse of her face and noticed that she was asleep. Well at least that much was good news.

"Velcome to the Pit, my dearest monsters. Today, ve vill crown a new victor. And that victor shall be given a chance like no other. Join me in welcoming our contestant for today, Shaggy, the wolf man, Rogers."

Here there was an offensively loud amount of booing and cursing. Shaggy laughed at himself as he considered the level of underdog he must be in this situation. Dracula did not seem very happy to see a grin on Shaggy's features.

"Come now, Shaaa-Gy." Dracula offered Shaggy's name in the way he did during their first meeting. "Don't you recognize myself? We are old friends, after all." He grinned, trying to see the fear and frustration in the man's face.

To Dracula's dismay, Shaggy stared back. He did not offer any facial expression at all, but one glance would tell you that the danger lie in Shaggy's eyes. They were filled with a strength Dracula had not seen before. What set Dracula off, however, was the other thing he saw there. IT was not something which could be explained, but it made staring down the person in his pit much more difficult.

"Do not even try to consider yourself a friend, you fiend. What do you want?" Shaggy's voice dripped with venom which Dracula had never imagined anyone could manage. "My dear Shaa-Gy, all I want is for you to participate in a small challenge." Here he gestured down to the pit. "See, this place where you are standing is known as the Pit. It is a place where I am allowed to test the greatest of the monster world."

"And naturally you thought of me? This would have nothing whatsoever to do with Sibella, would it?" As Shaggy stared at Dracula, the vampire smiled.

"Nothing really, my boy. Nothing more than what you have dragged her into."

"And now I am here to compete at your whim, yet again? NO thanks Batty, I still remember how the last time ended for me." Here Shaggy turned his back on the Vampire, looking for a way out.

"Shaggy Rogers, NEVER turn your back on a vampire!" Dracula shouted down at the man standing in the pit.

"Now now, batty, don't try making rules here. Just get out of my way."

"Shaggy, we both know you need this opportunity in your life. Tell you what, finish the challenge and I will provide you with one free wish and should it be within my power, it shall be yours."

As Shaggy staed at the Vampire, then to Sibella, and back to the older Dracul, he took a deep breath. "Consider me involved, for now."

With that, Dracula began to laugh. He cast his shadow as Shaggy's first opponent rose into the pit. It was a very familiar form, but this one was growling at him. Shaggy stared in disbelief.

"Winnie?! What are you doing here?"

"Shaggy, run! I can't fight Dracula and if he gets you too, he will make life miserable. He took me from Grimwoods!"

Shaggy tensed. If Dracula had been to visit Grimwoods and already returned, things would not be going well for the students. The anger and frustration Shaggy felt at this was undescribable.

"Yes, Velcome to Vinnie the Verevolf! She is your typical were wolf and she is the daughter of our current Wolf Man! Join me in welcoming her to our midst. As the cheering around the Pit rose, Shaggy turned to see Wnnie charging at him and ramming into his chest full force. As he fell to the ground, he felt the pain in his body. He had been fighting it. But that his told him it was true. As Winnie attacked and began to hurt him, Shaggy did nothing to fight back. After a minute, Dracula raised his hand and Winnie stopped beating him. He face Shaggy.

"Shaa-Gy, I for one would greatly appreciate you partaking in this fight. Otherwise there is no fight." Slowly curling his lips up into a smile, Dracula reached out and ran his fingers through the still unconscious Sibella's hair. I may not be able to personally control you, like I can your poor friend Winnie, but a long life has taught me which buttons to press. I am now here to take control of you. See, I know how to tug at your heart strings. Therefore, you can either fight Vinnie like a good little Wolf Man, or you can walk away from Sibella forever.

Shaggy felt the pain in his chest. He knew what he had to do. He just hoped he could figure everything out before it was too late. Taking a deep breath, Shaggy turned to the voice which had been steadily growing inside of him for quite a few years now. This time he would welcome it like a friend.

"Hello Shaggy, are you ready?"

"Yes" Shaggy said this last line out loud and as he did, he felt his body go through the changes. He felt himself become even more muscled and defined as his snout grew. With Long canine teeth stretching from his gums and hair growing across his body, Shaggy flexed his hands experimentally and turned to face Dracula.

"Hide from me for now, Dracula, but it will not last. I came here to take back my happiness from you. It doesn't matter what happens next, but you will not be able to mess with these girls or any of my friends after today."

At this he dropped his gaze directly to Sibella. Under the weight of his stare, he saw her twitch, even if she was unconscious.

"I'm coming for you, my Queen."


	5. Ch5: The Wolf Man Cometh, the Bat Taketh

"But Freddy, are you sure?"

"Positive. Shaggy needs us. He has always been there for us in one way or another. He and Scooby both. I think it is time we are there for him."

Fred looked away from the phone as he felt the ground shake. Looking out the window, he jumped when he saw a large black eye wrapped in scales staring back at him.

"Hey Daph, I need to go. Just make the call, please? Then get down here." After a long pause, he heard the redhead respond.

"Ok Freddy, I love you. We'll see you soon."

Hanging up, Fred turned to see Miss Grimwood running out of the door toward the giant winged lizard sitting outside the manor.

"Matches!" He heard her screaming as he stepped outside to join her. "Where are Mr. Rogers and Mr. Doo?"

As she took in his huffing and puffing and stomping around, Miss Grimwood just stared. She offered her own affirmative confirmations and a question or two. After a few moments, she tuned worriedly toward Fred.

"It would seem that Mr Rogers has entered Dracula's lair. Matches is worried about him and Mr. Doo, stating they have disappeared into the castle."

Smiling, Fred placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Miss Grimwood, there is nothing to worry about. I have some of our friends on their way, then we can try and go save your girls and Shaggy." Pausing to look at the large dragon, he continued. "Perhaps Matches would care to join us?"

A snort of flame and Fred could have sworn he saw the large dragon smile. He guessed that meant yes. Of course with such a toothy grin, it could just be the dragon and Fred knew he really didn't want to anger the large creature. He turned his attention back to Miss Grimwood.

"Miss Grimwood, I have some friends on their way. Soon as they get here, we are going to save Shaggy and Scooby-Doo!"

VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

Shaggy was aware of himself. Well that was new. Every other time he had given in to this Wolf Man, he faded. The wolf took over and Shaggy was gone. Of course looking back, Shaggy wondered if forgetting was a bad thing.

He took stock of everything around him. He was indeed still in the Pit, but he felt different. He flexed his paws and felt his claws. He knew he was standing taller. He could feel his arms feeling bigger, but not heavier. And he could tell he was standing differently, almost on the balls of his feet. With these feet, however, it felt natural.

Looking up, Shaggy saw the orange haired werewolf standing before him. Her teeth were bared and he could see her preparing to pounce. Shaggy knew he needed to move. There was no way he could hurt Winnie. As he heard the growl rising in her throat, he crouched, waiting.

The instant he saw her twitch, Shaggy moved. He watched her flow by and felt like she was moving incredibly slow. Having known Winnie as long as he had, this really made him begin to question things. Had he hit his head? Was he already dead? This did seem a bit like hell, he thought, as he knew he was fighting Winnie and a quick glance told him the Sibella was still out cold on the balcony. But then the voice returned.

" _This is real."_

" _What"_ Shaggy looked around, searching for the source of the voice. It was dark and grating. Of course it also offered a warmer feel than it had previously, not challenging.

" _This experience, what you see and feel, it is all real. We are living this."_

" _And who is we?"_

" _Don't you know?"_

Shaggy suddenly felt something new. He suddenly knew he was not alone in his mind. He had known this presence for years, he had just been fighting it. He had been hiding it. Suppressing it. Now he felt differently.

Before, the voice had offered a challenge. IT tried to break him, to free itself. Hearing it had led to fear and Shaggy had become adept at ignoring the voice. He had learned to push it down, most of the time. But now…

Now, he felt the voice wrapping him in power. He felt himself melting into this strength. Shaggy had learned to embrace certain aspects of his wolf side, but the entirety of it had evaded him. With Dracula offering his challenge, Shaggy turned to take the Wolf whole. It almost seemed as if nothing could stop Shaggy from his self-appointed task. It was almost as if the wolf knew better than to stand in his way.

" _And now, we will do this together. I am you and if you are ready, you are me."_

With that, Shaggy woke from within himself. He was no longer Shaggy Rogers, resident coward. As he felt the wolf melt into him and they truly became one, he knew he was Shaggy Rogers, the Wolf Man. Shaggy righted himself and stood squared at the balcony where Dracula stood. He could feel each and every monster in the room. He almost felt as if he could reach out and touch them, talk to them….maybe…

"I am The Wolf Man." The look in his eyes told Dracula that tonight would be dangerous. Dracula remembered how his last round with a Wolf Man had ended. He had been lucky enough that having a child had led to their peace. He also knew that he was standing between this new Wolf Man and his love. Of course that love happened to be his daughter, the very reason he had backed off last time. This remembrance led to Dracula becoming angry.

"Indeed you are, Mr Rogers, but I…I am the King of ALL Monsters!" He had been raising his cape as he stood there, making himself appear bigger. As he came to the end, he dropped his cape, a sign.

And Winnie lunged. Shaggy had been turned away from her and she went for his back. With claws out, she drove, trying to bury her claws in his back. She felt the cloth there, feeling it come as her sharp claws went deeper, she knew she had struck.

But then he was gone. Shaggy was not standing before her. With his shirt in shreds in her claws, he was suddenly across the room from her, facing her. He growled lowly at her.

"I am The Wolf Man." She was staring at him. Almost pausing. Then she growled back.

" _My father is the only Wolf Man."_ She heard Dracula screaming that in her head. She knew she didn't want to fight Shaggy, but she knew she couldn't help it. As long as Dracula was in her head, she would be attacking him. She stared at the Wolf Man across from her. He almost seemed to be growing.

" _I AM The Wolf Man!"_ She heard this scream. She watched him closely. Something was off. Then she heard Dracula again.

" _Don't stand there, attack him."_

" _I AM THE WOLF MAN!"_ At this last phrase, Winnie knew something was off. She was watching closely and Shaggy had not moved. He was staring at her intensely, but his jaw had not moved. How had she heard him?

" _Winnie, don't give in to him"_ This time she heard her name. And the voice wasn't Dracula's. It sounded different. It was softer. It took her back to her childhood. But how could he be in her head?

" _Vinnie, come now child, tis time to fight this fraud."_ Dracula sounded almost as if he was whispering. She could feel his presence in her mind fading. She kept staring at Shaggy.

" _Winnie, I'm here."_ With that, Winnie felt herself relax. And in that instant, she heard several more voices.

" _What?"_

" _Whose there?"_

" _This can't be real."_

" _How can this be?"_

Each voice was slightly different. Then she heard the safe voice again, over all the others.

" _Listen, each of you. I am Shaggy Rogers. I am the Wolf Man. Dracula no longer controls you. He will never control the werewolves again for as long as I live. And he shall never control another monster while we stand together."_

Winnie felt herself gasp. She had heard of this, but had never felt it. It was said that the strongest could speak to one another. She had heard her father talk of doing it previously, but she had never expected to actually hear another wolf man in her head. Even he own dad had not been that strong since his youth. And that was before Dracula became so strong. But now, here was Coach fighting through and over Dracula's voice. How could that be? In an instant, she made her decision.

She knelt down before the Wolf Man.

"WHAT?!" She heard an irate Dracula cry out from behind her.

"What are you doing? I have been telling you to fight him! Stand up and attack him!" She stayed where she was. She could no longer even feel the Vampire in her head. She could only feel the other voices of the werewolves, perhaps even a few other monsters as they slowly joined in. It seemed Shaggy had a following…either that, or Dracula was really that hated.

Then she heard voices she was worried about never hearing again after Grimwood's. She heard a ghastly giggle as Phanty and Elsa joined the conversation.

" _Hehehee, well this is new. Not bad now, honey, just new."_

" _I'm confused a bit, but I'll take it."_

Winnie felt herself smile as she heard one more voice join.

" _Oh my head. Well, our heads, I guess. I hear Elsa and Phanty. Is everyone ok?"_

" _I'm here too."_ Winnie could almost feel the mummy smile at that.

" _Good."_

At this, Winnie looked up to see Shaggy. He did indeed seem to be growing. He was a full-fledged Wolf Man. With a smile growing on his face, he turned to face the Vampire King.

"Bats, why don't you come down here and fight your own battle rather than forcing someone else to do it. Are you that scared of me?" He grinned widely at the monster on the balcony.

"Don't you worry, Shaaa-Gy. If this stupid werewolf won't fight you, another one will."

Shaggy almost barked in laughter.

" _Do try."_ It was all Shaggy said. While he stared down Dracula, Winnie could hear the conversation in her head.

" _What is going on? Does Dracula really think we would fight that monster?"_

" _What Monster?"_ Winne heard Tanis ask.

" _Phanty, Elsa, Tanis, Shaggy has embraced it. He is the wolf man. He is why we can all hear one another's thoughts. And since I won't fight him, Dracula just said he would make another werewolf fight him."_

" _I'd rather take a bite out of the vampire."_ Winnie could almost hear the grin in the werewolf's voice. Then Shaggy decided to step in.

" _No one touches Dracula. He is holding several people very precious to me. He will have to deal with me first."_ Everyone could feel the command in Shaggy's voice and no one dared to challenge him. At this, the attention returned to Dracula, who now appeared incredibly angry.

"VHAT? How can this be? I can no longer control any of these verevolves?" Dracula looked down at Shaggy incredulously.

"So it seems, Bats." Shaggy threw the name out again, enjoying the twitch it caused in the Vampire King. "But don't let them stop you. Just come on down to face me."

Dracula seemed ready to give in. He was angry now and was ready to fight. As he dropped over the edge, his cape flew from his shoulder. This was going to be a fight for his life and Dracula did not want to be impeded by anything.

And a fight it was. Winnie ran to escape, being pulled up the side of the pit by some fellow monsters. At the first clash, everyone knew they did not want to be in the way. The two combatants were moving nearly too fast for the naked eye. It was only small instances when the two met where any other creature could even see them. It was blinding. It was mesmerizing. It was terrifying.

Winnie made her way up to the balcony with the help of some fellow monsters. As she came to sit beside Sibella, she carefully tried to wake the Vampire Princess. She tried tapping her cheek, snapping her eyes, even a wet willie. Nothing seemed to be working. Then she heard a wrenching scream from the pit and looked just in time to see Shaggy drag his claws across Dracula's back. The Vampire took it hard. He transformed into a bat, only to flutter back down to the ground where he returned to his humanoid form. He was nearly cowering before Shaggy now as the Large Wolf Man loomed over him.

Shaggy was seeing red. This creature before him had taken everything from him. His happiness, his peace, his love. All he wanted to do was end him. And that is what he would do. As Shaggy prepared to decapitate the vampire before him, he saw a flash.

In an instant, there was a flash of purple before him and Shaggy nearly clawed it in the process of stopping his hand. It took everything in him not to scream at the person foolish enough to get in his way. Till he realized who it was.

"SIbella…" Shaggy looked down at his claws. He had almost done something terrible, yet again. He slumped down to the ground and felt himself transform back into his human form.

Dracula noted this hesitance. He smiled to himself. Though still gravely injured, he took his opportunity.

"Shaa-Gy, I did promise you one wish. What would you like? I could take back the curse, so you would never again nearly kill someone you loved?" Dracula watched Shaggy twitch as he said this. Sibella turned on her father.

"How dare yo-" She was cut off as she heard a gentle moan come from behind her. She turned to see Shaggy collapsing on the ground. There was a pool of his own blood beneath him. She rushed over, tears brimming on her eyes. Winnie rushed down to join her, keeping a careful eye on the Vampire King. As they sat Shaggy up, they noted the long slashes on his back. While in his Wolf Man form, they had scabbed over and been healed enough not to bleed. As he had returned to his human form, all of that was torn off and he was bleeding profusely. Dracula laughed.

"And taking your powers away would even heal all of this, Sha-Gy. You would be whole once more."

Sibella glared daggers at her father, who just offered a fanged grin back at her. Then she felt Shaggy shudder as she spoke.

"Dracula, understand this. Whatever promise you make *wheeze* is made in the presence of this castle and *cough* company. Dare to break it and *whimper* you will no longer be the king of monsters."

Dracula smiled, but that faded as he stared around at the room surrounding him. He was their king, but based on the looks they were giving him that could change in an instant. He looked back at Shaggy.

"So be it."

"From this day forth, Promise me that you will never touch, let alone harm, a single Grimwood girl nor any of my friends."

Dracula looked with Fury on his face. He seemed ready to explode. Sibella looked back at Shaggy with teas brimming in her eyes. He had just given up life to protect her and the girls. How could she possibly ever deserve a man like this?

"Fine, Shaggy, I personally shall never lay a hand on anyone of them again."

Here the floor fell out from beneath the pit, leading Winnie, Sibella, and Shaggy to fall to the ground beneath. This ground happened to be the floor of the prison cells. As the ground above them closed, they could hear Dracula laughing.

"But I never promised any of my minions would not attack them."

Suddenly SIbella heard movement. She was instantly on guard. Of course she had no reason to worry. She saw Winnie, now back in her human form, instantly sprint over to hug one of the shadows creeping up on them.

"TANIS!"

"Winnie? We were so worried!"

As the rest of the girls came to where Sibella sat cradling Shaggy's head, their own spirits dropped.

"What happened?"

"I…I apparently clawed him. He is dying." Winnie sobbed into Tanis' shoulder.

"No Winnie, it will be ok. He can just change back into the Wolf Man and-." Sibella was cut off. She felt Shaggy's hand on her cheek.

"I told you. I told you I would save you my queen. But I can't change. Takes *wheeze* too much. I'm too far gone *cough* already." He broke down into a series of coughs before looking back up at her.

"Sibella, I need you to know…like…well…ummm…you see…SIbella, the thing is.." Here he seemed to fade. Sibella felt his hear tracing before is stopped. She searched for a pulse frantically but could feel nothing. This could not be happening. What was this!

"COACH!" The rest of the girls shouted. Sibella felt herself fall back. She was death. She brought death everywhere she went and he needed life right now. She started begging the others.

"Please, save him. Whatever it takes. Don't let him die. I can't lose him. I need him. I…I…"She drowned off. Tanis was feeling for a pulse.

"It is weak. He is alive, but only barely." She stopped and shook her head at Winnie. The werewolf took a deep breath before coming over and carefully raising the cowering vampire princess to her feet. She reared her hand back and smacked the whimpering purple haired beauty.

"Pull yourself together Sibella. You and I both know there is only one person here with the power to offer Shaggy any sort of life. The question is if that person loves him enough to do that." She stared deeply at SIbella's eyes. As Sibella realized what Winnie meant, her own eyes opened in fear. Then her shoulder fell.

"No Winnie, the fact is I love him too much to do that to him. He has already been through so much. He just gave his life trying to save us. I can't do that to him."

"Sibella." Sibella looked down at the dying man at her feet who was calling her name. With tears in her eyes, she fell down to his side. He pulled her into a hug so he could whisper to her.

"I would give anything to be with you, and all of me to save you."

Sibella stared at him. She was the thing that went bump in the night. She was the terror of the world. She was the spawn of the demon who had done this to him.

And he had still come with no care in the world but to save her.

She made her decision.


	6. Chapter 6: Gone

Sibella trembled as she went to work. The process of changing someone into a vampire was generally painful. Most times it happened, the vampire didn't care about what happened to the person being changed.

This was not most times. This was Sibella working through the process as quickly as she could. She was doing everything in her power to change Shaggy. She needed it to happen painlessly. And she needed it to happen now. She needed to save him.

Of course he was also a wolf man, so changing him already offered certain complications. How could changing someone who was already a monster into some other kind of monster be good or even possible? But in that moment, she didn't know and she didn't care. All she wanted was to save shaggy and to have him again.

Finally, feeling ready, she drew back and bit deep into his neck. She drank just enough of his blood to feel his pulse and feel how good that taste felt. Fighting the urge to drink it all, she pulled herself back. It was no easy task. Sibella generally avoided drinking humans, but even the few she had drained tasted nowhere near as wonderful as Shaggy. But the frantic nature of their current situation drove her to fight her urge. As she did, she carefully pricked her palm and forced a few drops of her own blood into his lips.

Then came the waiting. The hesitating. SIbella slid back, unsure whether it had worked or what to do next. As she did, the rest of the Grimwood girls came to surround her. The pulled her into a large group hug. They may be monsters, but this was their coach. He had done nothing but be nice and care for them and for that he had been punished. None of them wanted that. They were worried for him.

Just as they felt themselves becoming truly worried as to whether it had worked or not, there was a grinding sound behind them. The girls turned to face the sound, fearing what was coming. There was a light that began to grow. Watching it intently, the girls began to realize that the wall on the far side of their prison was rising. That had to be a good thing.

But as the wall of stone gave way, the girls saw that it was replaced by a wall of monsters. And what was worse, that wall of monsters was growling, chanting, screaming at them. It was a terrifying sight and Sibella knew that only trouble could come from this. She felt her body offer an involuntary shiver which travelled down not only her back, but the rest of the girls as well. With a deep sigh, Winnie pulled away to look at the rest of the girls.

"Well, at least let's not go down without a fight. We can make this at least worth everything Coach gave us."

"Rand Re Roo!" The girls turned at the voice and saw Scooby-Doo come running up.

"Scoob!" SIbella shouted, as the Great Dane jumped into her arms. "Where have you been?"

"Ri rot reperated rom Raggy, ro Ri rent rexploring!" (I got separated from Shaggy, so I went Exploring). Here he offered his trade mark giggle. The girls couldn't help but laugh before Winnie decided to bring them back to reality.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have some other concerns on our hands besides Scooby and a dead Shaggy."

Now it was Scooby's turn to be shocked. He jumped out of Sibella's arms and ran over to see his best friend lying there on his back He whimpered as he nudged Shaggy's body before turning to face Sibella with a question on his face.

"I tried Scooby. I'm sorry." Scooby turned back to see the bite marks on Shaggy's neck. Then he walked over to the girls. He walked right past them and stood between them and the monsters. As he did, he began growling and barking. Before any of the girls could stop him, he took off running toward the monsters who had now begun to advance.

"Scooby, NO!" They all shouted after him and began running toward him. Then all hell broke loose. There was a scream of pain from behind the monsters. The first werewolf met Scooby who simply jumped up and landed on his back, digging his claws in. He was thrown off shortly after and slammed to the ground in the center of a circle of closing monsters. The girls, seeing all of this, ran toward Scooby, ready to fight for him.

But it didn't seem to matter. The girls noted as they got closer that none of the monsters were able to get more than a few steps away from Scooby-Doo before some odd force repelled them it was almost mesmerizing to watch. As the girls got closer, they heard a shout from above.

"Scooby, are you ok?"

All eyes turned up to see where the noise was coming from. To the girls shock and amazement, it was Fred hanging from the ceiling where the pit was. He had somehow managed to open it. Above him was a tall slender redhead, a slightly shorter brunette with glasses, and three ladies dressed in gothic attire. All of the girls recognized the divas of pop instantly.

"The Hex Girls?!"

"At your service." Thorn said before returning her attention to Scooby-Doo. "Fred, we really need to move now. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold." Fred turned his attention back to the girls. He tossed a rope down to them calling out.

"Let's go ladies. We need to move. I'm not sure how long Matches and our witch friends here can distract those beasts." In an instant, everyone was clambering up the rope. Elsa was the toughest, but once everyone else pitched in, she was easy enough. Sibella was last because she had run back to Shaggy's body first. She placed a quick peck on his check as a tear ran down her own.

Then she turned just in time to see Scooby fall. She sprinted in his direction, battering her way through till she was by his side. She wrapped the dog in her arms and made eye contact with the blond hanging from the ceiling. Catching her drift, Fred Threw the rope down to her, warning everyone to get ready to pull hard and fast. As soon as Sibella had a good grip and threw the rope around Scooby, Fred shouted.

"NOW!" In a flash, everyone hauled on the rope. The plucked Sibella and Scooby off the ground and through the hole the gang had managed to create in the floor of the pit. As the monsters stood, screaming and jumping to try and follow, the were battered flat by a rush of wind and wings. With one last puff of fire, Matches flew up through the whole which had been magically closing in the process. As the group settled to catch their breaths, Fred began making introductions all the way around.

"Ladies, I would like you to meet the rest of Mystery Inc., Daphne Jones and Velma Dinkley. And apparently you know these three, but I would also like to introduce you to our friends Thorn, Dusk, and Luna." Here he turned to face his friends. "And ladies, I would like for you to meet Shaggy and Scooby's students, Sibella the Vampire, Winnie the Werewolf, Tanis the Mummy, Phanty the Phantom, and Elsa the daughter of Frankenstein."

"Rand Rhis Ris Ratches." (And this is Matches). Scooby offered from his post beside Fred. Fred laughed and added in. "Yes, this is Matches." He gesture dup to the large dragon who was settling down on his stomach to try and see what was going on.

A quick glance around told Winnie and Sibella that the pit was empty as opposed to when they had been here just a bit previously. That was comforting at least, but there was no telling how long that would last. Suddenly Fred caught something and turned back to the Grimwood girls.

"Girls, where is Shaggy?"

As they hung their heads, Fred wished he hadn't even asked. Looking carefully at Sibella, he felt he had to say something else. "I'm sorry ladies, I shouldn't have asked." At this, Sibella stood up and faced Shaggy's friends.

"No, its ok Fred. Shaggy is gone. He came here to save me, and he did. He became the Wolf Man and fought my father. Not only did they fight, but Shaggy won. He made Dracula promise to never hurt any of the Grimwood girls or any of you ever again." Here her voice caught. After a quick sob, she felt Winnie and the rest of the Grimwood girls place their hands on her back. She took a deep breath and went on.

"Of course, my father being the jerk that he is said he would personally never hurt us but couldn't promise anything about his minions. We were dropped into the dungeon where Shaggy changed back. He had been hurt and was dying. He couldn't change back into the Wolf Man, so I tried to save him by turning him." She stopped here, breaking down entirely. Fred took that as a sign.

"And it didn't work." Sibella just nodded, unable to stop her tears.

"Vhat a Pity, the poor Volf Man is dead and gone. Good Riddance. He vas Becoming a bit annoying anyvays." Hearing this, all the people in the pit turned their attention to the balcony. Standing there, once again wrapped in his cape was the Vampire King, Dracula Dracul. He had a very smug look on his face. Sibella felt the anger rising in her at her already cruel father. The growl from behind her told her that Winnie felt the same way. The chorus of angry huffs which came next meant the rest of the people here agreed with her. Her father needed to go away in a bad way.

"Father, it would be simply fangtastic if you let us go. You have already shown us so much of your lovely hospitality." Sibella hoped her father could feel the pain from each and every word she offered. If looks could kill…

"Vell now, vhat fun vould that be?" Dracula stood, raising his arms in a shrugging gesture as he said this. And in that instant, the walls to the sides of the pit opened to reveal the crowd of monsters who had attacked them before. This was going to be a fight to the death in one way or another.

"What now Freddy?" Daphne asked her husband and everyone turned to him expectantly. Fred shrugged.

"What else. We honor Shaggy's memory and fight to save the Grimwood girls." Feeling the conviction in Fred's voice, everyone knew this was the only plan. The humans and monsters all turned so their backs were to Matches, readying themselves for the coming onslaught of monsters. They were circling the wagons, so to speak.

Then, the growling and the screaming stopped.

And the monster army charged. Dracula stood on his perch in the balcony as the war raged beneath him. He did not care what happened. He knew he had more than enough monsters at his disposal to handle a few little fools. Even his daughter, who had sadly decided to side with them. Why couldn't she just be a good vampire and trust her father. Why did she have to go fall in love with Shaggy, of all people. He hated that man. Even in death, the Wolf Man was costing him. Here he was telling his monsters to kill his daughter. Ah well, he would have to let that go. She was never much of a vampire princess…too caring and considerate.

He knew of her journey over the past two years and he hated it. She was the Vampire Princess, queen perhaps one day. Why did she bother caring so much about all the other monsters? Her job was to rule them. So maybe this was for the best.

Dracula watched the monsters all tear into the small gang. The Grimwood girls, humans, witches, dragon, and dog all fought valiantly, but it was not enough. In short order, they were all dragged down. Even Matches was set upon by a few trolls and spider creatures as they trapped his wings and muzzled him. Dracula had silently commanded his army to kill no one. He wanted the pleasure of watching each one die individually and perhaps even having them watch one another die.

He dropped down over the balcony ledge and stalked over to where his new prisoners were planted on their knees. He stood over each one, taking in the look of defeat and rage that mixed on their faces. He knew he had won and had done it convincingly. He finally stopped before Sibella.

"Vhy my poor daughter. It is certainly a pity that you have chosen their side as opposed to your own fathers. But that is the choice you made. And it has already cost that fool his life." He watched her seething at him, drinking in her anger before he went on. "And now you shall vatch the rest of these fools die." Here he let out a growling laugh.

"It is not nice to threaten to kill Mother Nature's Children." Dracula jumped at this line. He turned to see Miss Grimwood standing behind him. She was short and stout, but she was different too. He could see the anger in her eyes and suddenly felt himself getting angry.

"Vhy Miss Grimwood, vhat a pleasant surprise."

"Do not start with me, Dracula Dracul. You have threatened my students with their lives and have threatened the friends of Shaggy Rogers. That is unacceptable. Now you must pay the piper and it would seem that I, as Mother Nature, must take that toll."

As she said this, Miss Grimwood began to change before their very eyes. She was suddenly a tall woman, not nearly as stout, but she did still maintain an almost grandmotherly appearance. And Dracula could feel the rage and power pouring off of her. But it didn't matter if she was Mother Nature, no one would stand in the way of his plans.

"Miss Grimwood or Mother Nature, I do not care. You can either leave or join these fools." As he said this, he allowed himself to give into the primal strength that fury offered. It was the same power that had taken him when he had come to fight Shaggy. He slipped his cape from his shoulders. Miss Grimwood turned to face him.

Suddenly Dracula felt himself trapped. He could not move his feet. Looking down, he noted that small vines had grown up and wrapped him tightly.

"You bring death, Dracul. I bring life!" At this, several small plants began to grow up, threatening to engulf the vampire. He would have none of that. He turned into a bat and flew out of the mess.

"Vhat do you think I am, a fool? I vill have my victory!" He swooped down toward the woman, transforming back into his vampire form at the last second. As he collided with Miss Grimwood, he felt strong roots take hold all around him. He turned to see a large tree had suddenly sprung up behind him. He began to fight earnestly, but it was no use. It would seem Miss Grimwood was thoroughly in control.

Unfortunately, time has a strange way of affecting one. Miss Grimwood, or rather Mother Nature had spent so long caring for her girls, that her fighting was…well, gone. She was already spent by the time she raised the tree to take the vampire and she was far more ancient than him. And somehow he knew this.

Suddenly Dracula was free. He was once again to his feet and apart from the tree. He began circling Miss Grimwood, taunting her.

"Vhats wrong old voman? Is that all the fight you have?" As Miss Grimwood continued turning to face him warily, Dracula smiled. "Vhat a pity. I had hoped for a real fight. No matter." Here he sprung forward and knocked her to the ground.

"Now you vill join my little party." With the fight gone from Miss Grimwood, she collapsed beneath the weight of other monsters who dragged her unceremoniously to the rest of the gang. As she arrived, she turned her face to the girls.

"I'm sorry girls."

"No Miss Grimwood."

"Yeah, don't be sorry."

"You shouldn't have come." Everyone stopped to stare at Sibella on this. There was fury and pain in her eyes. She was glaring at her father as she continued. "The girls at Grimwood now need you Miss Grimwood. And yet here is my father, yet again trying to take away anyone and everyone I love. He is going to kill all of you, and you'll die just like…"

As she trailed off, everyone in their small gang tried to fight to get to her, to comfort her.

Dracula watched all of this with a grin on his face. He was a terrible person and he knew it, but it did not matter. He was the king of the vampires. Of all monsters for that matter. If they did not respect him, he would just have to show them.

At this, Dracula began to laugh before fluttering back up to his balcony. He considered the small gang of fighters trapped below him, wondering what his exact approach should be.

"Vell, let us see. How should I handle killing your friends, my daughter? Perhaps ve should start with the witch girls?" He waited for a reaction. Getting none, he continued. "Or maybe you would prefer I start with the blond man? The dragon? Some of your old classmates?" Still not the reaction he wanted. She remained exactly as she had been before. He could feel the anger pouring off of her, but he wanted to see it. So he moved to his next pawn.

"Vell then Vhat is Ve start by killing this dog?" Then he saw her twitch. He could feel the anger rising in her face. She looked ready to scream. And he began laughing, his dark terrible laugh. It bellowed through the chamber, shaking everything. Dracula had won and he knew it.

He turned to face the door to the balcony as it opened and someone entered.

"Yes, what is it?"


	7. Chapter 7: The Shadow

"Draccy, Baby. Why are you always so mean to me?"

Sibella looked up at the whiny voice she heard on the balcony. She knew that voice. It wasn't exactly a good sign…this probably just was going to annoy and anger her father even more. And after all they had put the old vampire through, he was more than angry enough.

"Vhat are you doing here, Vam Pyra?" Dracula tried to feign annoyance, but the anger had already risen too far. He'd already had to face down that blasted Wolf Man and Mother Nature/Miss Grimwood. Now here was his hot vampire on the side (no real divorces in the monster world, but he hadn't seen his wife since about the time Sibella had been born). He thought back to the race where Shaggy had first become a part of the monster world and how her ineptitude had been so bothersome.

But now, she was walking in just as he was on the verge of putting an end to some of the most meddlesome thorns in his side in centuries. Part of him wanted nothing more than to throw her from the balcony, but he thought better of it and waited for her response.

"Well I came to see what all the commotion was." She was almost pouting at him now. She did look pretty good, he thought. Maybe he would forgive her. But first he had some pests to deal with.

"Vell then you are just in time, my dear. Ve are about the end a few annoying storylines that are in my vay." Here Dracula gestured to the crowd on the ground behind him. He heard Vam Pyra squeal as she looked, but then a look of confusion dawned on her face.

"But Draccy, isn't that-" Here he cut her off. He did not want to hear what she was about to say. If it was what he had expected, that she would ask if it was Sibella, he knew he never wanted to hear mention of his daughter again after today, just like he'd never wanted to hear mention of his wife nor mention of Shaggy.

"These are the fools who thought they could stop me. They have ransacked my castle. They have ruined my nice quiet evening." Here he turned to cast his evil grimace over the faces which were now clearly showing fear. "They must be gotten rid of."

Turning back to Vam Pyra, Dracula offered her his arm and the two fluttered down to the pit floor after she took it. When they landed, Vam Pyra let go of his arm and stood back. A small force of monsters immediately rushed to Dracula's side, waiting to do his bidding. Things were looking worse and worse for the gang, the Hex Girls, and the Grimwood girls. And Dracula was far from done with his teasing.

"So vhat shall ve do now? The dog still looks like he needs a rest." As he reached out to pet Scooby, the Great Dane growled. Dracula noted the bristling hair on the dogs back and pulled back. Stupid mutt, he preferred his werewolves. They were at least pets he could control. Though even that had seemed to be an issue since Shaggy had arrived. Well, no matter. He would correct all of that later.

He stalked over to his purple haired daughter.

"Vhat a pity. Vell, more like vhat a pitiful vampire." He gaged her eyes for a reaction, but she offered none. She stared at him with a hatred Dracula had only ever dreamed she could poses.

"Yes, vhat a pity it took me killing that stupid coach of yours for you to finally become a true vampire." Here Dracula threw his head back and laughed his dark bellowing laugh. Several of the trapped gang cringed or looked away, but Sibella simply stared. She was far from impassive, but she was not about to bite at her father's bait. His time would come. For now she was more worried about her friends.

"Hmmm, vell it is time ve began." Looking at their flustered looks, Dracula laughed again. Then he turned to walk over to Vam Pyra, calling over his shoulder. "Vell since you at least have the decency to look sad, I vill give you a moment to say goodbye!"

Though far from alone, the gang were all let up enough to face one another. There was fear and terror in their eyes, each not sure how to react. There was some minor sniffling, and Daphne buried her face in Fred's shoulder. Winnie and Tanis met in one another's embrace for fear of what was to come. All in all, it was a heartbreaking scene.

But not everyone was engaged in the sadness. Scooby was growling and crying all at once. He had just lost his lifelong best friend, but now here he was preparing to die himself. He had heard how Shaggy had stood up to Dracula, and Scooby was going to face his death just as bravely in honor of his best friend.

And Sibella, for her part, was still glaring at her father. She did not want to feel in that moment. She had said her piece to everyone already. Their being here was her fault. Shaggy's being there was her fault. Soon their deaths would be her fault, just like Shaggy's…

She felt her breath hitch in her throat. She couldn't focus on that. She couldn't think about never seeing his eyes and getting lost in them. She couldn't think about never feeling his arms wrapped securely around her. She couldn't think about not feeling the warmth of his lips on hers. She couldn't think about all they would not be able to do. She couldn't stand it. Her heart was broken and in that instant it hardened.

So she glared at her father. Once again, if looks could kill

After letting this go one for a few minutes in the hopes of hearing some wailing and begging, Dracula got bored. He turned back to the small crowd and addressed them.

"The time has come!" This statement drew a great cheer from the crowd of monsters. They were exactly that, monsters. As such, they were a rather terrible bloodthirsty crowd. There was hooting and hollering and screaming. The creatures were working themselves up into a frenzy.

Taking all of this in, Winnie noticed something odd. She still couldn't heard Dracula's voice. And what was more, the werewolves were not foaming at the mouths as they typically would when an even such as this occurred. It made her feel better to know that at least her brethren were not going to be enjoying what was to come.

Suddenly, Scooby was being dragged away. The method of Scooby's demise had not yet been decided, but the thoughts were only of the worst. The entire gang and even Matches put up a fight to get to the Great Dane, but it was all for naught. Scooby was soon safely away from his friends where no one could help him. He was taken to the balcony where Dracula and Vam Pyra had returned. They stood staring over the collection of monsters below. Dracula decided to address the creatures.

"My fine monsters, big a small. Today is the day when we shall reclaim control of our own lives. Ve shall end the wretched lives of these creatures." Letting loose another laugh, this time the crowd joined in with the Vampire King. The room was suddenly ablaze with fire light as torches around the room lit to ensure all could see. Dracula turned to the dog, who appeared to be trembling before him. Dracula grinned to himself.

"Now, my dear Scooby Doo, do not vorry-" He was cut off as Scooby jumped up to start barking and growling at him. As the dog tried to attack, Dracula realized that the shaking had been Scooby attempting to bark and attack the king. As Scooby was restrained by the other monsters, Dracula laughed. He laughed at the situation. He laughed at the crowd below him. He laughed at the dog before him.

Then he turned to make eye contact with the purple haired Vampire Princess and laughed at her. The anger on her eyes was new and fresh, but he knew where it came from. He drank it in. He took in all the pain and suffering he had caused. This was what he lived…or rather, did not live for. Dracula was meant to destroy other creatures, and this is exactly what he had done. He called out loudly so everyone could hear him.

"I do believe that Mr Doo should be taken slowly…painfully. Perhaps some of our trolls could help him stretch a little?"

The evil grin on Dracula's face told the gang that this 'stretching' would be anything but comfortable and the end result would be bad. The gang trapped blow bellowed their anger.

"No!"

"You Can't!"

"Not Scooby!"

"Don't do it!"

The only person who did not respond was Sibella. She was still staring at her father, attempting to burn through him with just her look. Sadly it was not working.

As several trolls came to replace the monsters who were restraining Scooby, each took a separate limb. They grasped his paws as best they could in their large hands, waiting for a signal from Dracula. The Vampire King offered one last look at the Great Dane.

"Now is your chance, Scooby Doo. Just beg."

All Dracula received in return was a growl. He'd had enough waiting, enough playing with his toys. He nodded to the trolls, adding, "Make it slow."

As they all looked on, they could hear Scooby growling even through his pain. The entire rooms seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of what was happening. No one could look away, even though his friends wanted to desperately.

As they watched Scooby, no one noticed the door to the balcony once more creep slowly open.

Nor did they notice the shadow that snuck silently through the opening.

VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

As all eyes were on Scooby, the shadow stole silently through around them

There were subtle changes throughout the crowd. As Scooby fought the pull of the trolls, there was no attention as the Shadow snuck around to the monsters holding the gang. Coming to each, the shadow slowly enveloped them, pulling each one into it. The monsters were so enveloped in the actions of the trolls and the Great Dane, they never noticed the disappearance of the prisoners. Each prisoner was slowly drawn away until only the purple haired vampire was left. She was too busy glaring at her father to notice the shadow wrap its way around her. Even as she felt the room fading, she was still too focused on Dracula to notice the change until Dracula and Scooby's growling was gone.

And Sibella faded into darkness.

VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXXV

"Come on Princess, time to wake up!" Sibella felt a hand smack her face as she came fully awake to the face of Tanis. She shook her head and looked around. She and the rest of the girls, not to mention Mystery Inc. and the Hex Girls all appeared to be safe and sound, at least for the moment. But what had happened?

Sibella thought back to the last time that had happened to her. When she had just faded into darkness like that. She had woken up in her father's castle, chained to a bed. It had been a terrible experience. But when her father used that power, it felt draining and terrible. Lying here, she felt almost warm and refreshed. But how could that be?

And more than that, who had done it. No one besides her father had the shadow ability. It belonged solely to the strongest of the vampire's. And knowing what was happening, there was no way in hell her father had saved them. Maybe this was his way of toying with them?

Lost in her thoughts, Sibella missed the appearance of the shadow once again. But the shadow merely delivered another person this time, not stopping to be seen. It was the large form of Matches with Scooby Doo draped across his back. For all that the Great Dane had borne over the past month, he looked no worse for the wear. After shaking his own head, the dog took stock of his surroundings. He cautiously made his way beside Sibella, looking at her with disbelief in his eyes.

"Ram Ri Read?"

Sibella smiled at the curious question. She considered it for a moment and it seemed reasonable. And to be honest, she wasn't sure.

"I don't know Scoob, but I don't think so." This seemed to help the dog relax. Then, seeming to have an epiphany, Scooby looked down quickly and counted his limbs, as well as his tail. Seeming satisfied, he launched himself into Sibella's arms.

As the rest of the gang came awake, there was mass confusion all around. Through the confusion, no one noticed the sly grin that graced Miss Grimwood's face.

Standing to look with Scooby securely in her arms, Sibella noted the gang was back in the basement dungeon, but it was different. The wall which had opened to let the monsters in was closed and the ceiling was closed as well. There were even torches gracing the walls, allowing everyone a bit of a view of their prison.

Except it wasn't a prison. It seemed more like a room. There was a bed, where the Hex Girls were draped, a couch, where Daphne and Velma lay, and a nice rug, where the Grimwood Girls were. It all seemed odd. The room was still dim and dark, but it seemed friendlier somehow. It was a large room, which would explain how they had thought it was a dungeon before.

Then a realization hit Sibella. Where was Shaggy? She began searching frantically. As she did this, the rest of the room turned to watch her.

"What are you doing Sibella?" Sibella did not even turn to face Winnie, continuing to look around the room instead.

"This is the same room we were in before."

"I know, I can smell it."

"But then where is Shaggy?"

The question seemed to light a fire under everyone. With a gasp, the entire group jumped to their feet, a few more cautiously than others as they shook off the light headed feeling, to aid in the search. After a few frantic moments, Sibella came across what she had hoped she wouldn't find.

There was the pool of Shaggy's blood. It was bright red as a puddle on the floor. As she gasped, the rest ran to her. Upon seeing it, they all felt their hearts fall. Shaggy's body was gone and a few moments of searching showed track marks pulling away from the pool toward a wall.

As Sibella fell to her knees to cry once again, the shadow suddenly appeared in the room. There was a gasp from the entire company as the shadow came to itself, forming a solid body. There was once again a collective gasp from the room, but Sibella didn't notice. She didn't look up. She was too lost in her own sorrow. Her heart was permanently broken now, and nothing else mattered.

She heard someone walking toward her as the tears came. It didn't matter. She had lost him, and this was the proof. It hurt too much. And she couldn't fight the tears.

As she was lost in her sorrow, she felt a hand on her chin. Fighting to keep her tears hidden and her eyes on the ground, Sibella couldn't help but look slowly up as her eyes were drawn to the shadow's.

"Hello, my Queen."


	8. Chapter 8: The Finale

Sibella couldn't believe her eyes. Or her ears for that matter. How…what…where? She stared in disbelief at the Shadow before her as it became entirely solid before her. After the heartbreak and frustration, she was sure this had to be her eyes playing tricks on her. One quick glance at the other faces in the room, however, told her she wasn't imagining. And in that instant, she drew back from him.

At that, Shaggy dropped his smile and stood up. He was different. Not at all in a bad way. He looked stronger, sturdier than he had been before. Of course he was far sturdier than the last time they had seen him, since he was dying. Still, he looked even more confident than he had fighting Dracula as the Wolf Man. And Sibella was confused when she heard his heart beat. What was that?

Everyone was drawn out of their stupor when they heard Dracula scream as the wall rose once more to reveal the mass of armies. It had only been a few minutes since Shaggy had pulled each and every one of them from his grasp and he was pissed. He had not felt it coming and was not able to sense anyone within the castle. All he had known was that he felt cheated. So he had worked the monsters back up into a roar, waiting until he could sense something. And then he had found them beneath, back in the cells. With a smile, he had led the hoard down.

As the wall rose, and Dracula came face to face once more with the gang, he let out a laugh, but the laugh turned to a scream as Shaggy moved to stand between the gang and the monster. Dracula found more frustration and anger in that small moment than he had ever imagined possible. He had beaten the stupid Wolf Man. He had heard his heart stop. He had seen the pain in the friends and his daughter's eyes at the loss. But here was the foolish man, once more standing between Dracula and his fun. He cried for the monsters to attack, but they were stopped.

"STOP!" Shaggy bellowed through the chamber. At the strength of his voice, every last monster stopped and stared.

Shaggy stood there, drawn to his full height. He looked taller, stronger than before. He had hard eyes and the sound of his voice told the room that he was in charge. And then Shaggy ghosted as the shadow and appeared behind Dracula. In that instant, Dracula froze and true fear appeared on his face for the first time in his life.

"My Dear Dracula. It would seem you were planning to hurt some people very dear to me." There was almost a dangerous glint in Shaggy's voice. SIbella felt a shiver run down her spine as she watched the man. And he was a man. There was no sign of the Wolf Man showing, at least not yet. More than that, there was no hint of the vampire and she had heard the heartbeat. So what was this man before her? Was he still her Shaggy?

"Vell now, Shaa-Gy, you must understand-"

"Silence!" The power of Shaggy's shout brought Dracula to his knees. Everyone in the room stared in awe of what was happening. Dracula being shut up by the monster before them.

And then Dracula decided he'd had enough. He shot to his feet to attack. After a quick strike where he slashed Shaggy's shoulder, he began dancing around. Shaggy for his part didn't even wince or duck the attack. He just smiled and reared his shoulders back before engaging in the fight.

And if their previous fight had been hectic and powerful, this one was awe stopping. The two creatures were meeting with such force that Sibella felt it knock her over. Still, she couldn't pull her eyes from the fight happening before her. It was not only mesmerizing but terrifying. Not for the reason it had scared her before where she knew she would lose either her lover or her father. Since then, she had felt herself lose both. But yet here they were, once again fighting and she knew that at least Shaggy was invested in making sure she and her friends walked out of here.

As Sibella watched, she felt a tear sliding down her cheek. Almost as if that is what they had been waiting for, the fighters suddenly clashed and locked together. As they faced one another, Dracula saw something in Shaggy's eyes and he knew. He could feel it in his bones. In that instant, he stopped. He dropped. He was already worn out from all of the fighting. Then Dracula did something he had not done in many centuries. Not since shortly after having become the first Vampire.

He knelt down before Shaggy, bowing to him. A gasp rang out from the crowd. This had been far from the expectation. It was unexpected and terrifying. The king of monsters kneeling to another monster could only mean one thing. Not that anyone here had ever experienced this. Well, not nearly anyone. Miss Grimwood let out a small laugh as she smiled at the sight before her. Then, feeling the room could use an explanation, she stepped forward and called out.

"Monsters and beasts, as the torch is passed, so to should you kneel before your new king."

This led Shaggy to stare in disbelief. What had she said? What did that mean? But then, here was Dracula himself kneeling before Shaggy. What could it mean? Well, he knew what it meant. He had hear Miss Grimwood say as much. Though now he saw her differently as he watched. Somehow he knew she was not Miss Grimwood…or at least not just Miss Grimwood. She was Mother Nature herself. And Shaggy, well he could feel that he was something different. He was not quite a Wolf Man, but not quite a Vampire. He was also still human, somewhere in him.

At this he felt anger rising within him. This is what Dracula had done to him. Dracula had turned him into this monster. Had made him this beast with no real home. Had turned him into a freak that he wasn't sure anyone could love. He felt a growl rising in his chest. And he saw red. He prepared to strike.

Watching him rear back and hearing the growl, SIbella moved. She knew it didn't matter what had happened. She loved Shaggy and there was no way she was going to let him do this. He would hate himself for it. She had seen how Shaggy was when upset with himself and she would be damned if she was not going to stop that from happening again. So it was in that instant when she moved, streaking forth to grab Shaggy's arm. And he whirled, prepared to attack whatever had tried to stop him from dispatching Dracula.

The fear was apparent in Sibella's face, but she didn't move. She stood strong, her hand on his arm and she saw the anger fade as it was replaced. She could read the regret, the self-disappointment in his face. She sympathized, but she held him none the less.

And then the tears fell, he tried to pull away from her, to turn and run. But she wouldn't let him. She did as she had done on that night that felt so long ago, sitting on the roof. She pulled him into her hug, holding him tight.

Once he calmed down, the two turned to look at Miss Grimwood.

"Miss Grimwood, what did you mean by new king?" Shaggy asked, fearing he already knew the answer. As he felt Sibella grab his hand, he felt she knew as well.

"Naturally, Mr. Rogers, you have defeated the previous King of monsters in more ways than one. You have learned to control your Wolf Man powers. You have developed the abilities of the vampire. You overcame death, shown to us by your control of death's shadow power. Since then, you have even defeated him here now as his daughter chose love for you over him. That was largely due to his own inability to love, but that is beside the point. And I am sure you can see each person here as they really are?" She grinned here and Shaggy knew she meant herself.

"So then I have become the greatest monster in the world?"

"An interesting way to say it, Mr Rogers. I understand you see yourself as a monster. You have since the Wolf Man stuff started to plague you. Yet you do not hold that against anyone else here. You loved my girls. Some more than others." Here she winked at him and appreciated that he had the decency to blush. "So tell me, Mr Rogers, why do you hold it against yourself?"

"Because I am a coward and I am scared of what will happen. People have always been hurt and a lot recently because of me. And now you tell me I am some ridiculous combination of all these monsters?"

"Mr Rogers, there is something you should know. You and your gang in your mysteries always found that there was a man behind the mask. Who are you more likely to call a monster, the men and women behind those masks or my girls?"

Shaggy didn't even stop to consider her question. "The people behind the masks."

"See, Mr Rogers, your abilities do not make you a monster. How you use them will." She smiled at the entourage that was approaching him made up of the friends who had come to stand behind him before casting her eye over the still clasped hands of Shaggy and Sibella. "Just make sure you have the right people around you."

Here Miss Grimwood turned, preparing to leave. She climbed onto matches back with the rest of the gang. With only Scooby, Sibella, and Shaggy still on the ground, she smiled down at him once more.

"And remember that you always have a place at Grimwood's."

VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX

It had been a busy afternoon from there. Shaggy had gone about dispersing the monsters back to their lands, but not before decreeing several more relaxing requirements for monsters, particularly in their treatment of one another and humans. Dracula had been draconian in his stances and naturally that wouldn't fly with Shaggy. Sibella actually came to appreciate it.

What came later, however, had been a greater shock. Once back in Dracula's throne room, he had abdicated his position as King of Vampire's. It had been something Shaggy could not take, being as he was not entirely Vampire. This meant the title fell to SIbella, the new Queen of the vampires. Shaggy had been there, smiling to her as she felt overwhelmed with this new development.

"Congratulations, my queen." His words had sent a shiver down her spine as the two had finally retired to a quiet room to relax and enjoy being alone. They had once more climbed through a window in order to sit on a stone wall just beneath it, where they could leave Scooby to sleep in peace.

As they stood there, Sibella knew what she needed to say. She had wanted to say it for days, but had never had the courage. As she felt him cry, she felt her own tears begin to form and fight their way out. She wanted to make sure she said it before she got lost in her sobs. She steeled herself up, taking a deep breath and looked over into his eyes.

"I love you."

What? Sibella felt lost. He had beaten her to it. And now she didn't know what to say next. Be pulled back from her hug to look at her, tears still heavy in his eyes. And he went on.

"Sibella, I love you and I'm sorry it took me so long to say that. And more, I'm sorry for everything I have put you through." With that his hands dropped from her shoulders.

But Sibella wasn't ready to let go yet. She smacked him, hard on the shoulder, before jumping to wrap her arms around him again. Shaggy looked incredibly confused, so she clarified.

"The smack was for letting me thing you had died." She nuzzled up close to him so she could smell him. He smelled delicious. "And I Love you too Shaggy."

The two lovers turned to the laugh that came from behind them, knowing there was no more trouble from the monsters around them.

"Rit's Arout Rime."


End file.
